Equality in Every Seat: Rethinking Classroom Dynamics
- Aug. 1, 2025, 4 p.m.
Schools have started regarding how students sit down in classrooms in states such as Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Punjab. This move didn’t come from top-down reforms or academic thinkers. It began from a Malayalam children’s film, Sthanarthi Sreekuttan.
A 7th-grade student challenges the backbencher-frontbencher divide by proposing a powerful and simple idea in the film. That single shot sparked a wider discussion that questions not just the backbencher but the whole seating arrangement. Kottarakkara (South Kerala) and Ramavilasom Vocational Higher Secondary School (RVHSS) in Valakom decided to give it a try, taking inspiration from the movie.
1. The Beginning of Frontbencher–Backbencher System
The traditional row-and-column seating system draws its roots to 19th-century Prussia, where the government standardised education with a strong structure inspired by the military field. While preceding the Industrial Revolution, this system fits clearly into the factory-like modern learning logic.
As schools started mimicking factories, they made students sit in straight rows, raising respect over questions. This arrangement allowed a single teacher to handle order, provide one-way instruction and handle large classrooms.
The British colonial learning system reinforced this layout, and schools became institutions for developing administrators, loyal interpreters and clerks of imperial policy in India. The seating system served that goal, suppressing encouraging silence, concentrating authority and collaboration with the teacher.
2. Transforming Rows to U-Shaped Classrooms
Teachers rearranged desks inside the classroom’s four walls in a V or U-shaped layout, assuring all students sit in the "front row" at RVHSS. “Minister Ganesh Kumar brought this up after watching a preview of Sreekuttan, a year before its release,” said Sunil P Sekhar, the school’s headmaster. “We started with one class. The response was overwhelmingly positive, so we expanded it to all lower primary sections.”
Sekhar observed that the new arrangement allowed teachers to monitor all students equally and gave each child more visibility and attention. More importantly, it broke the physical and psychological barrier that traditionally separated backbenchers from the rest. “This method is especially effective in primary classes where students are still learning how to learn,” he added.
Meera, a lower primary teacher with 29 years of experience, described the shift as “the most rewarding” in her career. “There’s more eye contact and more involvement. The quieter kids finally speak up,” she said.
3. No More Backbenchers
Tamil Nadu’s School Education Department picked up the idea, encouraging schools to try a ‘Pa’-shaped seating arrangement named after the Tamil letter. “Engagement begins with arrangement,” an official noted. “We’ve asked schools to adapt it based on their classroom size and student numbers. No infrastructure changes are needed, just a change in mindset.”
The concept travelled north as well. In Malda, West Bengal, the century-old Barlow Girls’ High School became the district’s first to adopt the ‘No More Backbencher’ model. Inspired by Sreekuttan and backed by state officials, the school held three pilot sessions for Class VII covering math, history, and work education.
“In the old setup, students at the back struggled to see the board or follow discussions,” said headmistress Deepasri Majumdar. “All 55 students questioned, freely interacted and were attentive.” The school substituted traditional rows with a horseshoe or semi-circular layout, assuring better interaction with the teacher, and all students had an unobstructed view.
Malda’s school inspector, Banibrata Das, witnessed the pilot rollout and said, “Sreekuttan moved us. The idea is simple and the impact is profound.” One school that screened the film adopted the new layout according to its message in Punjab. At least 8 schools in Kerala, and several others in West Bengal, Punjab and Tamil Nadu have started testing with this student-centred system.
4. Reaction of the Public to Modified Classrooms
The new seating model has drawn reactions from across India. VV Lakshmi Narayana, former joint director of the CBI, tweeted: “No more backbenchers! Kerala schools are following a U-shaped seating system to make sure every child receives equal attention. A simple shift with a powerful impact on inclusion, learning & confidence. Time for all state governments to implement this.”
Others responded with humour and nostalgia. Industrialist Harsh Goenka joked: “Thank goodness I didn’t go to school in Kerala, they’ve abolished backbenchers! That was my permanent seat. Where would I have hidden my quick nap, my doodles, my secret samosa?”
Some noted that the mindset of a backbencher goes beyond physical placement: “Removing the last bench won’t remove backbenchers. It’s a mindset.”
This increasing transformation signals a reimagination of classroom education, sometimes proving that the smallest modifications, such as shifting a desk, can have the largest impact.
