Privatisation of schooling system and closing down government schools leaves the poor with no choice but to enroll their wards in private schools. Lack of infrastructure and a structured system of education is one of the major reasons for high dropout rates. Focusing on this aspect, a public debate on the state of education system in the Old City was conducted at Lamakaan, Banjara Hills by the Hyderabad Institute of Liberal Arts on Saturday.
The panel included Ayesha Rubina, co-opted member of GHMC, Shama Parveen, deputy director of Princess Esin Junior College, Sangeetha Kamat, researcher from the University of Massachusettes and Azam Khan, businessman and educationist. The debate was compered by Ananth Maringanti, board member of HILA.
“More number of people in the Old City are interested in education but government schools are being closed and two to three are merged into one. We thought of bringing together people who have experience of working in education field in the Old City,” Ananth Mariganti explained, while giving reasons for choosing Old City schools as the topic of debate.
The debate revolved around the fate of infrastructure, lack of quality education and standard of teachers in government schools and the impact of private school education on government schools. Sangeetha Kamat observed that back in the 1980s, the discourse revolved around lack of quality education in government schools and inclination towards private institutions. “The trend has reversed now. People want facilities in government schools to improve,” she pointed out. Shama Parveen said Princess Esin Junior College which was formed in 1974 to cater to the educational demands of girls and women of weaker sections is being neglected by government and is not being given sufficient funds.Though they want to improve the quality of education, lack of government support is not helping them implement their plans, she said.
Azam Khan observed that drastic change in the attitude of people towards education was visible in the Old City from 1990s. At the primary level, the percentage of students is 65% which comes down to 10% by secondary level and drops to 2 % by the time students reach graduation, he said.
Participants also discussed how vocational training courses which train students for semi-skilled jobs are impairing opportunities of students.The debate was the first in a series of debates on education to be conducted in Hyderabad.