Revanth Reddy says govt to cut schools from 27,000 to 4,000
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has announced plans to reduce the number of government schools in the State from 27,000 to 4,000, promising quality education from nursery to Class XII with free meals and transport.
Hyderabad: In a statement that is likely to trigger a political row, as well as concerns among teachers and poor students, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said the government had instructed officials to reduce the number of government schools in the State from 27,000 to 4,000.
He maintained that these schools would provide quality education from nursery to Class XII. Students would receive free education, transportation, breakfast and lunch.
The Chief Minister made these remarks while speaking at The Hindu Huddle Dialogue programme in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Revanth Reddy said single-teacher schools were established in tandas, gudems and remote areas in the past due to lack of transportation facilities. He described the model as outdated and said the government now planned to have one school for each cluster.
The Chief Minister, who also holds the Education portfolio, said many government schools currently function with a single teacher. In several schools, there were only two or three students in each class from Class I to Class V, with a total enrollment of around 10 students.
“How is a teacher going to teach them?” he asked.
To address the issue, officials had been directed to rationalise the system by ensuring at least 30 students in each class. He said the government would also focus on making all subjects teachers available in schools.
“This model will yield positive results. We also want to adopt technology and have appointed Khan Academy and other academies to teach the students and my teachers,” Revanth Reddy defended.
He said there were 27,000 government schools in Telangana with an enrollment of 18 lakh students. In comparison, 12,000 private schools had more than 35 lakh students.
According to him, government school teachers were well qualified, but student enrollment remained low. In some schools, there were only three to five students in a class. He attributed this mainly to poor families being unable to afford nursery, LKG and UKG education in private schools.
Considering these factors, the State government had revised its education policy to provide free education from nursery to Class XII along with breakfast and lunch. Free transportation was also being provided to students attending government schools.
“The success formula of private schools is to pick up and drop students at their homes,” he stressed.
However, contradicting his own statements, the Chief Minister also stated that enrollment in government schools had increased by one lakh students this year.
Revanth Reddy said IAS officers had traditionally been sent abroad on study tours. But, they were transferred to other departments after landing back.
This year, the government sent 100 teachers abroad to study education systems in other countries. After a batch of teachers visited the Philippines, another 200 teachers would be sent to Singapore to study government infrastructure and draw inspiration from their system, he added.
