MOHIUDDIN SHAREEF

R.R. DISTRICT CORRESPONDENT

Telangana, May 27: Education Department instructs teachers to strictly implement the program. Clarification to increase student enrollment. The aim is to increase enrollment in government schools, which has been declining for the past two years.

Enrollment of students in government schools in the state is gradually decreasing. Enrollment from class one to class five is promising, but enrollment in classes after that is falling. Students have been pursuing private education since sixth standard. There is widespread criticism that the authorities are not taking action to correct this. The latest Comprehensive Punishment Project also clarified the same thing.

It indicated that there is a need to increase the enrollment in the state. Keeping this in mind, the officials will undertake the Badibata program from June 1 to 11. Although it is usual for the government to undertake this process before the opening of schools every year, this time the education department has received clear instructions to increase the percentage of students.

This year Rs. 1,907 crores will be spent by the government. These funds will be spent on free textbooks, uniforms, building repairs, smart classrooms, information technology and staff salaries. Earlier it was decided to provide infrastructure in schools under the Mana Uru-Mana Badi program, but this program is running smoothly due to the change of government. Apart from this, shortage of teachers is plaguing government schools. Mainly, unless these two problems are solved, there is no possibility of an increase in enrollment in government schools, say the faculty members.

There are 30,023 state government schools in the state. Of these, 1,213 schools had zero enrollment last year. Enrollment in 13,364 schools is less than 50. There are 21 thousand teacher post vacancies in the state. 5,821 schools are running with only one teacher. 80 percent of schools have shortage of subject or language scholars.

There are 15.45 percent of schools without toilets for the disabled. There are 9.44 percent of schools without toilets for girls. No integrated science laboratories in schools 18 and 19. 11.7 percent of schools without ICT labs. There are 71 percent of schools without skill education labs. 46.15 percent of the sanctioned posts in SCERT and 67.83 percent of the posts in diet colleges are vacant.

There are 60 lakh students studying in government and private schools across the state from class 1 to class 10. Out of them 28 lakh students are studying in government schools while the rest are studying in private schools. Enrollment in government schools increased during covid. From 2020 to 2022, 2.5 lakh new people joined government schools every year. But from 2023 again gradually one lakh people are leaving government schools every year.  Is it because of lack of better education?

The Comprehensive Punishment Project recently produced a report on student attendance in schools across the state. According to this, 44 percent of government schools do not have at least 50 students. There are 40 to 60 students in each class till fifth class. Since then the enrollment of students has dropped from 46 to 35 per class. Due to lack of proper functioning of government schools, lack of teachers and timely delivery of books, teaching is lagging. As a result, parents are moving to cities with the intention of providing better education to their children from class 6 to class 10, the report said.

The Education Department has instructed the field level teachers to create a wide campaign among the public on the way in which the facilities and quality standards are being increased in the government schools. It has been stated that in the Badibata program to be conducted between June 1 and 11, the fact that the schools are being designed by the Adarsh ​​School Committees should be highlighted and the manner in which teachers are being appointed should be brought to the public.