‘Only sufficient budget can save government school education system'
A roundtable organised by Telangana People's Joint Action Committee (TPJAC) deliberated on the issues and challenges being faced by government schools and called for a comprehensive education legislation.
'Starting from age three to 18, the government must address pre-primary school and intermediate education needs. Then, on the lines of Kendriya Vidyalayas, a student must be able to pursue KG to 12 from the same school,' national convenor of MV Foundation R. Venkat Reddy said.
TPJAC co-convenor Kanneganti Ravi, citing 2023-24 school data, said 'There were 28,856 schools (70.5%) government schools with 19,40,964 children enrolled (39%). Schools with a single teacher were 4,235 (23%) and schools with below 50 students were 13,930 (76%). On the other hand, there were 12,022 (29.4%) private schools and they had 36,35,898 (61%) students. And in 2024-25, 1,789 government schools were closed.'
If the government is not bothered about schools being shut, if parents, teachers and citizens are not worried, and if no corrective actions are taken now – there will be no government schools in the future, the TPJAC leaders noted.
The government's flagship programmes such as Young India Integrated Residential Schools (YIIRS) are not an answer to improving the system but taking care of existing schools and reopening schools that are closed, they said.
Another leader K. Ravi Chander, citing 1,023 gurukul institutions in the State, said the YIIRS as an idea must be withdrawn. 'At ₹200 crore for YIIRS per Assembly constituency, or ₹23,800 crore, 700 residential institutions operating on rental basis can have their own buildings. Instead, the various gurukuls such as SC, BC, ST, Minorities and General can be renamed YIIRS, and all the 1,023 institutions must be administered by one management with unified rules'.
According to retired teacher Y. Ashok Kumar, the education budget allocated by the Congress government in 2025-26 is ₹23,108 crore or 7.75% of the total estimate, which is ₹1,816 crore more than the previous year. But the Congress party rallied and promised a 15% education budget.
MLC Kodandaram, in a brief address, said the government considers budget for education as an investment and initiatives such as the Telangana Education Commission were in a positive direction.
The TPJAC had been gathering reactions from parents, teachers and public using Google Forms about their perception towards government schools and the declining enrolment. It proposes to submit its report along with people's perceptions to the government.
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