Telangana is going through an unprecedented crisis in school education, and students, teachers and parents are all caught up in it. In the two years since coming to power, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) government has not found the time to address any of the major issues confronting school education. It’s no surprise therefore that Telangana is one of the worst performing states in literacy in the country.
The problems of school education are being repeatedly articulated from two sides, government-run and private schools, and seem to point to specific actions from the state government.
The state government’s response to the crisis has been to merge and/or close neighbourhood schools in the name of ‘rationalisation.’ Apart from the fact that closure of schools serving remote communities is a direct violation of the Right to Education Act, such a move immediately results in girl children dropping out of schools in large numbers.
The state is trying to reduce or freeze the number of schools because to avoid recruitment of teachers. A large number of schools are single-teacher schools which squeeze several classes into a limited number of rooms. Lack of water and sanitation facilities are just two of the many problems in these schools.
When teachers’ unions protested the mergers and/or closures, instead of taking corrective action, the government asked teachers to mobilise admissions to the schools with low enrolment under what is called the Badi Bata (road to school) programme. So the onus of ensuring enrolment has shifted to teachers.
The Badi Bata programme is a farce. Without additional teachers and classrooms, on what basis will teachers ask communities to send their children to these schools? The Badi Bata campaign should follow the strengthening of facilities in schools, not precede it.
At a recent interaction with administration officials in Medak, which is home to the chief minister’s constituency, education officials clearly stated that the government has allocated no support funding for the Badi Bata programme. They admitted that toilets may be there in schools but there is no water available and therefore the toilets remain unusable and unused. Only a minor investment is needed to lay down a water pipeline from the local bore well, but it has not happened so far in many places.
The government also has not ensured that notebooks are supplied to the children. The government has failed to release the paltry one crore rupees required to build compound walls for all the schools in the district. This is required to secure the schools and avoid misuse of the school premises.
While the state-run education system is being deliberately killed through gross neglect and incompetence, there have been massive protests over the last two months by parents who send their children to private schools.
In May at a public hearing held before Justice Chandra Kumar and Prof Shanta Sinha, parents sending their children to some of the big private schools laid bare the predatory practices adopted by these schools.
Schools in the private sector are mandated to run only as non-profit trusts or societies. However, most of the private schools are out and out commercial operations. Some of them charge Rs 1.5 lakh per annum for a child studying in grade three. In addition to this, Rs 3000 is charged for the bus service and books are sold at a premium. Parents are forced to buy the books from only these schools. For a family with two children, the burden is back-breaking.
Some private school teachers who testified at this hearing revealed that the managements pay a fraction of the signed amount as salary to the teachers. They are forced to write guidebooks and textbooks for no additional compensation, which the schools then sell for a profit to the captive market of their students.
During the hearing, Justice Chandra Kumar asked several parents why they send their children to these schools if the cost is so prohibitive. The reply invariably was that there was no other school in their locality.
There are no government schools in many of the newer extensions of the expanding city of Hyderabad for instance. It is the responsibility of the government to not only strengthen the existing schools but also to open new fully-equipped schools in new neighbourhoods.
Telangana has so far not made any effort to either strengthen or expand school education. Instead, budget allocations have been cut. Whatever little has been allocated does not find its way to the communities for timely implementation. The officials working within the system seem to understand the issues and are willing to act, but there is no political support or interest being shown by the TRS government.
On June 11, there was a massive dharna at Indira Park in Hyderabad by parents against the looting by private schools. Speaker after speaker said that they would happily send their children to government schools if the state provided basic infrastructure and teaching staff at these schools.
‘Free KG to PG education’ was an election promise of the TRS. While it may take time to implement, there is a need to take swift action to provide relief to both parents and students. Instead of closing government schools, there should be a concerted effort to increase the number of teachers in schools.
How many of us as parents would like to send our wards to single-teacher schools? There are government schools where some of the sections are to this day taught under trees! Should any responsible government allow this to continue?
More classrooms must be added along with basic facilities like toilets and drinking water. The rapidness with which illegal constructions come up in our high-value urban areas should tell us how fast such things can be accomplished, provided there is political will.
The government is reportedly looking at a Swedish company that can build fast for its two-bedroom housing scheme. Perhaps that should be immediately deployed to build new schools and to add additional facilities in existing ones. Whenever a new municipal permit is given for a colony, both a playground and a government school must be mandated by the local administration.
There is also an urgent need to regulate the fees charged by private schools and impose a ceiling on what can be charged for each stage of schooling. The state has allowed unscrupulous profiteering in the private education sector. It must stop immediately.