India

Keralam’s 1:300 PE Teacher‑Student Ratio Likely Ineffective Due to Staffing Gaps

By The Hindu Bureau

Keralam General Education Minister N. Samsudheen recently announced that the physical education teacher‑student ratio in the state’s schools has been reduced from 1:500 to 1:300. However, the change is unlikely to have an impact because most schools do not have any physical education teachers. Sources say that new PE teachers have not been appointed in government schools for a long time. Currently, about 1,800 PE teachers serve in roughly 5,400 government and aided upper primary and high schools, according to data from physical education teachers’ organisations. Lower primary schools, higher secondary schools, and vocational higher secondary schools do not have PE posts. The number of PE teachers in government schools is less than half of that in aided schools, the organisations’ data show. K.V. Devasya, a former PE teacher at Government High School, Kanjirappally, Kottayam, explained that appointments are governed by the Kerala Education Rules of 1960. More than 70% of schools lack PE teachers. In upper primary schools, a PE post is created only if the school has more than 500 students. In high schools, a PE teacher can be appointed only if classes 8 and 9 have five divisions or more. Although Class 10 students receive one period of PE, KER provisions exclude this from the post calculation. Devasya says the rules need amendment to allow more PE posts and to base appointments on vacancies. K. Nabeel, general secretary of the Kerala Private School Physical Education Teachers’ Association, said the minister’s statement is aimed at protecting existing staff posts. The state government has formed a committee led by Olympian P.R. Sreejesh to examine problems in the school sports sector and propose solutions. Nabeel added that a government policy on the teacher‑student ratio will be finalized only after the committee submits its recommendations. Published – November 01, 2026 07:00 am IST