Educational Institutions Across TG Likely To Remain Closed On Friday

Hyderabad:A coalition of seven left-wing student organisations has called a state-wide bandh of educational institutions across Telangana for Friday, prompting many institutions to declare a holiday.

The coalition, comprising the SFI, AISF, PDSU, AIDSO, AIFDS, AISB and the AIPSU, alleged that the government wanted cut 27,000 government schools down to 4,000 cluster campuses called Telangana Public Schools, and demanded that the proposal be cancelled. It is also demanding the state appoint a full-time education minister, fill vacant teacher, MEO, DEO and lecturer posts, and release `7,000 crore in pending student scholarships and fee reimbursements by cancelling GOs 7, 8 and 9.

The bandh follows a report in February by the Telangana Education Commission (TEC) that recommended a smaller version of the same consolidation.

The TEC, in ‘Education Policy for Telangana; recommended converting 2,000 government schools into TPS. These schools would offer education from Nursery to Class XII along with laboratories, libraries, sports facilities and bus connectivity. The commission suggested three such schools in each of the state's 632 mandals. Each was meant to serve around 1,500 students. It put the cost at an estimated `22,752 crore.

Student leaders said the government had gone beyond what the commission proposed.

"The academic year has already started, but uniforms have still not been supplied," said Chava Ravi, president of the Telangana State United Teachers Federation. "Fee reimbursement remains pending, and hostel kits and other essential items have not reached students either. Teaching and faculty posts continue to lie vacant, and regular DEOs exist in only four districts, Hyderabad, Hanamkonda, Rangareddy and Sangareddy."

The commission also proposed a separate tier of Telangana Foundation Schools for Nursery to Class 2, four in each manual but did not recommend cutting the total number of government schools from 27,000 to 4,000. That figure came from Chief Minister Revanth Reddy who, at an event in Bengaluru, had said single-teacher schools set up years ago in remote tandas and gudems for lack of transport were no longer workable. He said officials had been told to keep at least 30 students in every class. He said the reorganised schools would offer free education, transport, breakfast and lunch from Nursery to Class XII, along with lessons through Khan Academy.

Akunuri Murali, former chairman of TEC, denied any school would be shut. "Nobody can close the schools," he said. "This has been announced in a different context altogether. There is no intention to shut down any school. If schools are closed, I too will come out on the road."

The commission's position was unanimous. P.L. Vishweshwar Rao, a member of the commission, clarified: "CM had made that remark, but no policy statement has been issued by the government. It is not possible to close so many schools in a state as large as ours. Our motive is accessibility, equality and equity. There is no GO or press note on this. Some people have their fears, but this policy will not happen the way it is being feared. TPS will come up, and a few schools will be merged, but we are not in favour of even a single-school shutting down."

Critics have said cutting down schools in such numbers went against the Right to Education Act. “The law requires a primary school within three kilometres of every child aged six to 14, and an upper primary or high school within five kilometres,” said Ravi adding, "The TPS model is based purely on population figures, not on this requirement Even if transport is free, schools located 10 to 15 kilometres away will discourage many parents from sending their children, and dropouts will follow."

Ravi said the federation feared cluster schools would eventually go to private operators. He also added that people are not against TPS and want more of them, pointing to Hyderabad's expanding outer areas, where 85 per cent of students attend private schools and the government should add schools instead of closing existing ones elsewhere.