HYDERABAD: Telangana Model Schools, started a decade ago with the mission of providing quality, free education across the state, are now struggling to fill seats, with around 50,718 vacancies reported this academic year.
Currently, 194 model schools offer education from classes 6 to 10 under the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and Intermediate courses under the Telangana Board of Intermediate Education.
Of the 1.59 lakh seats available in classes 6 to 12, only about 1.1 lakh students have enrolled, which is a sharp drop from last year’s 1.3 lakh admissions. Sources said a major reason for the decline is a steep fall in admissions to Mathematics, Economics, and Commerce (MEC) and Civics, Economics, and Commerce (CEC) streams at the Intermediate level, with 7,469 and 1,966 seats vacant in MEC and CEC respectively.
Other factors include social welfare schools beginning from Class 5 (compared to class 6 in model schools), making them a preferred option, and the isolated locations of many model schools, and lack of public transport. Speaking on condition of anonymity, A Telangana model schools official said admissions in MEC and CEC streams have dropped significantly as most students prefer MPC or BiPC.
“We plan to discontinue MEC and CEC next year and introduce other courses. With many new social residential schools opening and a lack of transport facilities, students are increasingly choosing residential schools over model schools,” the official added.
Meanwhile, spot admissions are being offered, and interested students can enrol by visiting their respective model schools.