Chennai: Physical education (PE) associations have urged the Tamil Nadu government to expedite the posting and appointment of PE teachers and directors in more than 9,000 middle schools and 500 high and higher secondary schools. The demand follows the school education minister Rajmohan's announcement that steps would be taken to fill PE teacher vacancies in schools.
Key Demands for Teacher-Student Ratio
The primary demand is to reclassify the student strength to PE teacher ratio. S Sankaraperumal, president of the Tamil Nadu Physical Education Teachers and Physical Directors’ Association, stated: "There must be a PE teacher in every high school with up to 250 students; one teacher and one director in high schools with student strengths between 250 and 700; and two teachers and a director in high schools with more than 700 students." The association also sought two PE teachers and two PE directors (grade 1 and 2) in higher secondary schools having more than 1,500 students.
Concerns Over Hiring Practices
Sankaraperumal emphasized that these posts should be created by the government and that teachers must not be hired through school management committees or parents’ teachers associations. "In several schools with more than 500 students, not even one PE teacher is available. This has to change as PE is a part of the curriculum from Class VI onwards," he added.
Additional Demands
Other demands by the association include the re-designation of PE director (grade 1) to graduate teacher (physical education) and the abolition of the new pension scheme. The association believes these changes are essential to ensure quality physical education in schools across Tamil Nadu.
