West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee informed that the state government is planning to come up with a strategy to solve the problem of the dearth of teachers in state-run schools. According to her, making class 5th as a part of primary level would solve the problem of the dearth of teachers in class five, and will also help to balance the student-teacher ratio at the elementary level itself.
The West Bengal state government is also planning to come up with a proposal to hire graduates as interns for a period of two years in institutes which are facing a similar problem at both primary and secondary levels. The interns at the primary level will get Rs.2000 every month, and those at the secondary level will get Rs.2500.
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The performance of the interns will be monitored regularly, and if their performance is found satisfactory they will be considered for regular recruitment in state-run schools.
She further informed that the objective is to restore the balance between the teacher-student ratio. Some regions do not have required student-teacher ratio and are facing the shortage of teachers in government schools at the primary level.
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Meanwhile, she complimented private universities like St. Xavier’s who are taking a step further to provide educational facilities in rural areas. A committee has come up which will ensure that premier city universities help higher education institutions in districts and rural areas to improve their infrastructure and academic facilities.
As of now, the government has completed building toilets for girls in 95% educational institutes. There has been a significant increase in the number of girl students as well.