Overcrowded classrooms: Student admissions conducted against 2016 Supreme Court directive
View(s):Contrary to a Supreme Court ruling admission to midlevel classes have taken place in 2019, the latest Auditor General report revealed.
The Auditor General’s Report of 2019 released last week said, over 16,042 students have been admitted to midlevel grades in public schools in the last three years.
Accordingly it was revealed that 6337 students were admitted to 109 schoolsin 2017, 3339 students were admitted to 73 schools in 2018 and 6366 students were admitted to 81 schools in 2019.
This was despite a Supreme Court ruling in 2016, which did not allow students to be admitted to midlevel grades in public schools due to the crowded classrooms in popular national schools.
The Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU) said the SC ruling directed that students in classrooms with 40 or more students should be reduced gradually in five years, so there would only be 35 students in each classroom by 2021.
However the ruling had been ignored by successive Governments and even last year (2020), a number of students had been admitted to schools from grade two to grade 12, in popular leading national schools.
Overcrowded classrooms had been found to be overwhelming for students and teachers alike, with many children not getting proper attention in classrooms.
“This must stop. We request the current Government to follow the SC directive and bring down the numbers,”CTU General Secretary Joseph Stalin said. (CC)