Hyderabad: BRS Working President KTR has expressed deep concern over the Congress government’s “severe neglect” of school education in the state.
The “neglect by the Congress government has been distancing poor and middle-class students from education,” the KTR said in a statement on Saturday.
“Reports suggest that the government is attempting to close around 1,864 schools this year, citing a lack of students,” it said.
KTR criticised the government for considering “closing schools instead of strengthening public schools and providing quality education to poor and middle-class students.”
Further, he claimed that in 2024, admissions in government schools decreased by about 2.4 lakhs compared to the previous year, which he sees as a danger signal for the state’s education sector.
KTR accused the Congress government of throwing the public education system into disarray within just 8 months.
Additionally, the BRS leader said that the government should identify and address the reasons for “declining” enrollment in public schools instead of remaining in a state of inaction.
He primarily attributed the decrease in admissions to the lack of teachers proportionate to the number of students.
KTR alleged that about 25,000 teacher posts are vacant in the state and urged for their immediate filling.
Further, KTR criticised the government for creating problems instead of solving them. He mentioned that closing schools citing a lack of students and deputing teachers to other schools has resulted in a situation where many students are unable to access public education.
Additionally, he pointed out issues such as lack of proper infrastructure, failure to provide quality food, and poor hygiene and safety conditions in schools and welfare hostels, which make parents hesitant to enrol their children in government schools.
Referring to recent incidents in Gurukul schools, poisoned food in hostels, unsafe conditions, and school closures, KTR expressed that these developments are not good for Telangana state.
He accused Revanth Reddy’s government of making lame excuses to evade its responsibility of providing quality education to poor and middle-class students.
KTR reminded that during KCR’s ten-year rule, many programs were implemented to promote education.
He highlighted initiatives such as establishing over a thousand Gurukul schools, providing quality food including fine rice in government hostels, introducing English medium instruction in government schools, and allocating about Rs 7,289 crores for infrastructure development under the “Mana Ooru – Mana Badi” programme.
He also mentioned the use of CSR funds for constructing permanent school buildings and the introduction of a breakfast scheme to reduce dropouts.
KTR urged the Congress government to build upon the foundation laid by KCR instead of neglecting it.
He questioned whether the Revanth Reddy government dislikes poor and middle-class students getting an education and if they are deliberately creating problems in public schools to justify closures.
The BRS leader criticised the Chief Minister’s apparent lack of awareness about the education system and pointed out that the state doesn’t even have an Education Minister.
Further, he called on the Chief Minister to focus on this crucial issue immediately, appoint an Education Minister, and form a committee of education experts and ministers to suggest measures for strengthening public education.
KTR warned that if the government doesn’t address these issues promptly, BRS will launch large-scale protests.
Further, he emphasised that they won’t tolerate any attempt to distance poor and middle-class students from public education and stated that the parents who depend on government education will teach the government a lesson if injustice is done to their children.
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