Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao today stressed the need for a detailed and open-minded discussion for enabling the government to prepare a suitable and feasible education policy from KG to PG level, not only to improve the academic quality but also to bring the entire education system under one umbrella.
Intervening during Question Hour in the Telangana State Assembly, the Chief Minister also took potshots at the earlier UPA government for the present mess in the education sector. The model school system and the Right To Education policy formulated by the then UPA government had many loopholes, leading to numerous problems, he observed.
The Chief Minister pointed out that under the Right To Education act, 25% of the seats in private schools needed to be earmarked for the poor students. If this were strictly implemented, 50% to 60% of government schools would need to be shut down, and 40,000 teachers would be rendered jobless, he pointed out. He added that even scrapping unrecognized schools would not only affect many students, but even a large number of teachers.
KCR also felt the need for deliberating on the fee reimbursement policy, as the undue delay in making payments was not only affecting the college managements but also forcing students onto the streets. He had also issued necessary instructions to the concerned department to ensure that by April-May there were no arrears in this respect, he said.
Stating that all these aspects concerning education needed a thorough discussion, the Chief Minister urged the Assembly Speaker to allot time for the same so that all the members from both sides could make suggestions based on which the government could formulate a good policy. In the meantime, the officials of the education department had been directed to prepare a white paper in this regard, he said.
Upon a suggestion by the BJP floor leader Dr K Laxman that there was need for discussion on the health policy, too, the Chief Minister agreed, and appealed to the Speaker to allot the required time and date during the current session for a discussion on both the education and health policies.
Earlier, replying to the main question, Deputy Chief Minister K Srihari, who is also in charge of the education portfolio, assured that the government was taking measures to ensure a reasonable fee structure in private schools. Complaints had been received from parents associations that some schools were charging exorbitant fees, and notices had already been issued to 12 international schools in this regard, he said, and added that soon a meeting of parents associations and school managements would be called for to discuss the fee structure. High fees by private schools would be viewed very seriously, he added.
MIM Floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi wanted closure of unrecognized schools. He claimed that as many as 400 schools which had no recognition were functioning undeterred, and demanded their closure immediately. TDP member R Krishniah wanted the streamlining of the fee structure in private schools, besides implementation of a policy of "one management one school".
Write
a comment ...
