Hyderabad: The state government spends a whopping Rs 10,000 crore on government schools every year, of which Rs 7,000 crore is being spent on salaries for 1.30 lakh teachers.
However, over 12,000 government schools in the state have failed to achieve a minimum enrolment of 60 students, due to which these schools are not serving the intended purpose to provide free education for socially and economically weaker sections. The prime reason for poor enrolment is lack of English Medium, for which there is a huge demand.
“Parents prefer English Medium but this facility is only available only in high schools. There is great demand for English Medium even at primary and upper primary level. With no English Medium, the parents are shifting their children from government schools to private schools. Though the government is giving free education, free textbooks, free uniform, free midday meals in government schools, parents prefer private schools due to lack of English Medium in government schools. There is an urgent need to convert all government schools into English Medium to save them from closure,” said P. Sudhakar Reddy, teachers’ union leader and MLC.
Though the government introduced English Medium in high schools, the teachers were not trained to teach in English Medium, due to which the initiative backfired.
“The teachers should be trained first. Introducing English Medium without trained teachers would not serve the purpose. However, efforts should be made to win back the confidence of parents towards government schools,” said PRTU leader T. Harshavardhan Reddy.
The government is providing free mid-day meals even during the ongoing summer vacation to retain students, but sadly, it failed to help as not even 10 per cent of the students are turning up for the meals every day.
