Telangana Assembly sees heated debate on falling student enrolments, state of Gurukul schools

Hyderabad: The ninth day of the Telangana Assembly Budget Session witnessed heated arguments between the ruling Congress government and the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) on the closure of several government schools in the State.

The BRS blamed the Congress government for the steep drop in student enrollment and the ‘subpar conditions’ in Gurukul schools during a debate on the State Budget in the Assembly here on Tuesday.

‘257 gram panchayats do not have government schools’

Addressing the House, BRS MLA and former minister P Sabitha Indra Reddy questioned the ‘Congress government’s inability’ to keep its promise to reopen schools closed by the previous government. She demanded to know how many schools were reopened after the Congress came to power in the State.

“The Congress, which has accused BRS of closing 6,000 schools on multiple occasions, has shut down 1,913 schools, citing zero enrollment and another 400 due to teacher rationalisation. Despite a policy mandate, 257 gram panchayats in the State do not have government schools,” Sabitha Indra Reddy claimed.

More opting for private education

Citing the Congress government’s own socioeconomic survey, which revealed that private school enrollment rose from 31 lakh to 36 lakh while government school enrollment fell from 23 lakh to 19 lakh, she voiced concerns about the dropping enrollment numbers. Concerned about teachers’ recruitment, she criticised the government for announcing only 11,000 teaching positions, even though there had been 25,000 vacancies previously.

Recalling that chief minister A Revanth Reddy had promised to settle the problems of the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya teachers ‘in the time it takes to drink tea’, she ridiculed him for his unimplemented promises.

In reference to the Congress’s claims regarding the growth of Gajwel, Sircilla and Siddipet, she said that CM Revanth Reddy recruited Vidya Volunteers in his district while ignoring the rest of the State.

She emphasised that ‘Revanth Reddy represents Telangana and not just his Kodangal constituency.’

Can Congress close schools, asks Harish

In defence of his government, Legislative Affairs minister D Sridhar Babu said that health and education were still the top priority. “We have already reopened 79 schools that were closed under BRS, but it will take time to rebuild the system,” he stated.

However, Sridhar Babu’s assertion that the previous government did not hire enough teachers was contested by BRS leader T Harish Rao. “We hired 26,000 teachers under BRS, 8,000 through TGPSC and 18,000 for Gurukul schools,” he retorted. He claimed the minister was dodging the question of whether Congress had the authority to close schools.

“It is not correct on the part of Sridhar Babu to say that not a single teacher post has been filled out of 26,000,” Harish Rao said. He questioned Sridhar Babu about 1,913 schools that were allegedly closed during Congress rule.

Seethakka criticised the BRS for being self-congratulatory.

Reacting to the remarks made by Sabitha Indra Reddy and Harish Rao, Minister Seethakka criticised the BRS for being self-congratulatory. She also said that the BRS, which had never considered the breakfast proposal during its tenure in office, attempted to gain political benefit by unveiling it just three days before the election date. The BRS leaders claimed to have launched and promoted this plan in a few schools but did not pay for it. The Congress government paid the pending bills of Rs 3.5 crore after coming to power, she said.

She recalled that KCR’s grandson himself told the world about the plight of the education sector during the BRS regime and that he had visited a school in Gouli Doddi with his nose closed and expressed his regret that he had never seen such schools. She also criticised the BRS, which boasts of increasing the number of schools, for failing to provide basic infrastructure in schools during their decade rule in the State.