TS govt schools buck the trend in Covid times
Several schools in Karimnagar district see a jump in new admissions, with many students shifting from private institutions
Karimnagar: Shrinking economies, rising unemployment, business establishments pulling down shutters for good are among the issues that people are facing in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic the world over. But, incredible as it may sound, there is one sector which considers coronavirus a boon – government-run schools, at least in Karimnagar district.
In the pre-Covid days, parents, including those from the underprivileged class, made a beeline for private schools seeking admission for their children in the hope that they would provide good education to them. This tendency for so-called convent education had led to a significant drop in students opting for government schools, even if it meant a bus ride to the nearest town.
The trend has changed now, what with people losing their jobs, lack of employment opportunities and salary cuts, among other factors following the havoc wreaked by the pandemic, parents are now looking at government schools for their childrens’ education. And there are several factors influencing their decision, and not merely the fact that the fee structure in government schools is affordable.
District Education Officer Ch V N Janardhan Rao told Telangana Today that going by the trend of admissions in government schools for the ongoing academic year, they expect at least a 20 per cent jump in student strength. According to statistics available with the department, of the 3,593 students who took admission in various government schools across the district this academic year, 970 are children who shifted from private schools.
The reasons for the shift include continuing education in the form of online classes through T-SAT, rigorous campaign by government teachers and the good performance by students of government schools in the past couple of years, the sources said, adding that some smaller private schools had also shut down during the pandemic since they lacked the infrastructure to conduct online classes.
According to statistics, a total of 53 students joined Ganneruvaram Zilla Parishad High School, and 23 of them shifted from private schools. Similarly, out of the 41 students who joined Chamanpalli ZPHS in Karimnagar rural mandal, 16 are from private schools. In the case of Garshakurthi ZPHS in Gangadhara mandal, private school students accounted for 50 per cent of the 40 new admissions, while eight of the 44 new admissions in Chinthakunta ZPHS, Kothapalli mandal are from private schools. The Pachnur ZPHS in Manakondur mandal has 31 new students from private schools.
Gudala Sindhu Priya, a student of Class V in a private school in Peddapalli, shifted to Chinthakunta ZPHS. She is the daughter of Tirupathi, an attender in a private school in Karimnagar, who could no longer afford the private school fees. “I used to get Rs 6,000 salary per month. The school management, however, stopped payment of salary for the past six months due to Covid, but at the same time, they insisted that I clear my daughter’s fee. I had no choice but to shift her to Chinthakunta ZPHS,” he told Telangana Today.
Similarly, M Ramesh, a cycle mechanic by profession, admitted his son Arun Kumar in Ganneruvaram ZPHS School. Arun was earlier a student of Vignan High School up to Class V.
Juvvadi Manoj Kumar admitted his daughter Sahasra in Ganneruvaram School in Class VII. Manoj, who used to work in three granite quarries near Karimnagar, was jobless after the quarries closed down. He decided to return to his native village, Ganneruvaram, to take up agriculture for livelihood.
Kothakonda Venkatesh, a driver, admitted his daughter Harshitha Sri, who was studyiing in SSR School in Karimnagar, in Chinthakunta ZPHS school. “The private school management was not conducting online classes, and hence I decided to admit my daughter in a government school. I had paid the fee for my daughter’s education in SSR but they couldn’t conduct online classes because of lack of infrastructure,” he pointed out.
K Ravindra Chary, Headmaster of Ganneruvaram ZPHS, said parents who earlier used to send their children to private schools in Karimnagar are now turning to government schools since they cannot afford the fees.
Since Chinthakunta is on the outskirts of Karimnagar town, a majority of the parents were sending their children to various private schools in Karimnagar. However, there has been a change in the attitude of parents due to Covid-19, K Bhoom Reddy, Headmaster of Chinthakunta ZPHS said.
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