School Overhaul Explained in Vision 2047 Document

Hyderabad:Telangana has placed its youngest students at the starting point of its school overhaul in the Vision 2047 document, and said reading and basic maths by the end of Grade 2 would decide how the rest of the system is formed.

“PARAKH 2024 indicates that 54 per cent of Grade 3 children have reached mastery in Mathematics, up from 44 per cent in NAS 2021,” notes the Vision 2047 document, adding that this progress cannot distract from the gaps that remain.

The roadmap begins with pre-primary classes in every government school. These classrooms would follow a play-based model linked closely to Anganwadis so that nutrition, health services and early learning are not separated.

The explicit goal is that at least 80 per cent of children would, by the time they enter Grade 3, achieve all basic competencies in literacy and numeracy.

Teacher preparation and working conditions receive long sections. Modular training would cover child friendly pedagogy, bilingual teaching in Telugu or Urdu with English exposure, and multi- level teaching and assessment for learning.

DIETs would take on new roles by offering courses for pre primary, ECCE, foundational literacy and digital teaching.

Sports, vocational exposure and counselling would form part of the school week rather than occasional add-on’s. Physical education, NCC, scouts and guides and school bands would be strengthened across the state. Children in secondary grades would receive pre vocational exposure and choose from vocational subjects that include academic, technical and entrepreneurial fields.

Along with these, women’s committees linked to self-help groups would monitor attendance, transitions from Anganwadi to primary classes, safety, cleanliness and basic amenities. Local tutors known as Balashiksh would work with children in multi-grade classrooms through small group sessions so that those who need extra practice can reach grade level targets at a steady pace.

These tutors, the document says, would “strengthen foundational literacy and numeracy and ensure that children who require additional attention progress toward grade-level proficiency.”

A gradual change from large numbers of multi grade schools is proposed. These schools would move towards better resourced multi-teacher schools and complexes. No school would be merged, unified or repurposed without an equal or better alternative.

The state says safe transport would be arranged when travel time increases. Smaller schools would be grouped into complexes that share teachers, libraries, laboratories, counsellors and girls’ clubs so that children in remote areas are not restricted in their options. This move, according to the document, would “guarantee access to a government school for every child.”

Food and basic amenities receive a separate mention. Breakfast would be added to mid day meals. Schools would receive predictable budgets for repairs and routine upkeep, and SC and ST Special Development Funds would be used to improve hostels, safety and learning conditions in schools that serve disadvantaged communities.

Students identified as high potential would, from Grade 7, be supported through an ecosystem that prepares them for exams such as JEE, NEET and CLAT.

Selected KGBVs and Model Schools would become institutes of excellence. These centres would partner with EdTech organisations for content and analytics. SCERT would provide foundation and advanced courses along with visits, Olympiads, hackathons and residential bootcamps.

Digital aids would reach classrooms in a phased manner. AI assisted tools for language and mathematics would work offline and these would include age appropriate AI literacy.

Young India Integrated Residential Schools would also be created by pooling 105 existing residential campuses. These schools would have academic spaces, AI and STEM labs, skill labs, sports grounds and well-managed hostels for students from different castes and communities.

The state also plans to merge the Secondary School Certificate and Intermediate Boards into a single Telangana School Education Board covering Kindergarten to Class XII.

A Telangana School Standards Authority would act as an independent body for standards, quality and accreditation for government and private schools and notify quality standards, publish report cards and set standards for residential and hostel facilities. It would also oversee EdTech, data privacy and child protection rules.