SWABI: The shortage of space in classrooms of both public and private schools has become a big problem for the students and teachers in the district.

It was observed during a visit that students of various private and public sector schools were sitting on the floor as it was not possible for the teachers to accommodate them on the benches and desks.

`As compared to benches and desks, we can easily accommodate more students on the floor,` said a headmaster.

Academic staff and heads of the institutions said that it was not a problem for the students to sit close to each other in winter but the overcrowded classrooms became a great problem in the summer.

It became difficult for them to stay inside an overcrowded classroom when the power supply was suspended, a teacher said, adding the power outages usually continued for several hours.

`In congested classrooms, teachers can`t give proper attention to the students. In addition, it becomes difficult to identify the problems faced by teachers and students in the overcrowded classrooms,` said a teacher.

The headmasters said that rapid increase in population led to increase in enrollment of students in educational institutions. `We are forced by circumstances to accommodate students beyond the capacity of a classroom because.

We can`t refuse admission to the students, who live in our schools`vicinity,` they added.

The public sector schools are bound to admit students while the management of private sector institutions doesn`t refuse admission owing to their financial benefits.

`The public sector schoolsare compelled to accommodate more children in each classroom while the private sector schools use smaller spaces as classrooms,` said a physical education teacher.

Head of a private school said that overcrowded classrooms could have negative effects on students and teachers. `A big problem is that we don`t have our own building and same is the case of various other private schools,` he added.A teacher took this correspondent to a classroom where 103 students were present. He said that there were some schools where over 120 students were accommodated in a classroom while 60 to 70 was the nominal number of students in a classroom.

`The overcrowded classrooms create many problems for both teachers and the students. The students may not be able to follow their teachers and the teacher may not be in position to identify the problems of his students, said a science teacher.

`In overcrowded classrooms, teachers always remain under pressure and face behavioural problems.

Teachers might be forced to resort to corporal punishment to maintain order in an overcrowded classroom,` said a teacher.

The teachers said that imparting quality education to students was not possible in overcrowded classrooms.

They said that the problem of overcrowded classrooms could be resolved with the construction of more classrooms, increasing number of educational institutions and recruiting more teachers.

An official of education department, when contacted, said that government was striving to resolve the problems faced by teachers and students. Imparting quality education to students was one of the top priorities of the government, he added.