Glaring Gaps In Amenities, Staff Shortages Plaguing Govt Schools: TPF Education Bus Yatra
Murali claimed more than 80 per cent of primary schools faced multi-grade teaching, where one teacher handled more than one class. Many schools, he said, had only one or two teachers for five classes.
HYDERABAD: The Telangana People’s Front’s (TPF) said on Monday that it had noted wide differences in basic facilities, teacher availability and classroom conditions in government schools, during its education bus yatra. Telangana Education Commission former chief Akunuri Murali said parents repeatedly told the team they were turning to private schools despite the cost, while teachers spoke about staff shortages and multi-grade classrooms. The yatra would continue for three days in the before the TPF proposes to write to the Chief Minister on its findings.
“There is no standard for any school,” Murali said after the district visits, adding that schools differed even on basics such as availability of classrooms, compound walls, gates, toilets, running water and drinking water.
Murali claimed more than 80 per cent of primary schools faced multi-grade teaching, where one teacher handled more than one class. Many schools, he said, had only one or two teachers for five classes. “They cannot teach nine subjects or 18 subjects simultaneously. It is impossible,” he said.
Parents, according to Murali, said private schools were not necessarily much better academically but generally offered a classroom for each class, more teachers and better exposure to English. “They have lost confidence in sending the children to government schools,” he said.
TPF recorded similar complaints during their round-table meetings and its ‘Badi Nidra’ overnight stays in schools. Students in Vikarabad complained that just two toilets served about 400 girls. The group also reported poor conditions at the girls’ ZP High School in Dharur and said the government primary school at Gabbilalpet operated from rented premises and was the only government school for an estimated population of 50,000.
The yatra began on September 15 with three demands, which included a law regulating private school and junior college fees, stronger public education through Telangana Public Schools, and legislation guaranteeing 18 per cent of the State Budget for education.
Murali said TPF used the Arutla Telangana Public School as an example during its meetings to explain what better-equipped government schools could look like.
The Hyderabad leg would cover three bastis and some schools, with around 10 members travelling throughout. TPF also plans to meet parents of private-school students before writing to the Chief Minister. The organisation will decide its next course of action after the city visits conclude.
