VIJAYAWADA: Education Minister Audimulapu Suresh on Wednesday reiterated that the State government is not forcing any aided educational institute to merge with the government. “The schools can be taken back if the managements want to run them on their own. There is no compulsion in handing over the aided schools to the government. Most of the institutes are without proper infrastructure or the required number of staff,” he observed
Speaking to mediapersons at Badvel in Kadapa district, Suresh said the government took some decisions regarding the aided schools on the basis of a report submitted by a committee set up by CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. In its report, the committee studied the performance and teacher-pupil ratio at such schools, and made suggestions to improve their education quality and infrastructure under Nadu-Nedu, he added.
“Many of the observations in the report came as a shock. Several schools have had vacancies for a long time or are completely defunct due to lack of sufficient number of teachers or students. Some schools are mired in ownership disputes or have a lack of consensus between teachers and employers.”
Due to lack of infrastructure in some areas, students are not able to attend school, the minister said, adding the committee took all these issues into consideration. “If the managements are willing to hand over the aided schools to the government, we will improve their infrastructure under Nadu-Nedu and fill the vacant posts.”
Refuting allegations of the Opposition that the government is harassing the schools, Suresh clarified that the government will take over only those institutes whose managements show willingness. “Over 137 degree colleges responded positively to the proposal. Of them, seven agreed on paper to hand over staff and property, and 124 others agreed to surrender only staff.”
Out of 122 junior colleges, five opted to surrender property and staff while 103 others chose to surrender only staff. When it comes to the aided schools, 1,200 out of 1,988 in the State agreed on paper to surrender their staff, and 88 others opted to surrender property and staff both, Suresh informed the media. The minister further said a time-table has been prepared to map the students of the schools that are going to close, and web counselling for re-deployment of the surrendered teachers will be held this month-end.