STATE PLANS MERGER OF ZERO-ENROLLMENT SCHOOLS

To improve the quality of education in government schools, state is planning to merge government schools across Telangana, with the zero-enrollment schools of those located nearby. The government had also asked district education officers to find out the number of schools with fewer enrollments so that those schools could be merged with a school located within a onekm radius but it could result in the closure of about 4,000 schools located across the state.

Teachers’ Associations claim that more and more parents were opting for private schools to educate their children, resulting in a decline in enrollment in government-run schools. Parents consider English-medium schools an instant uplift for their children.

“High-income homes were sending their kids to well-equipped corporate Englishmedium schools but these days even parents who cannot afford it are also are trying their best to enroll their kids in Englishmedium schools with the aim to provide the best school education, which parents think their children will not get in state-run government schools,’’ said Chava Ravi from Telangana United Teachers’ Federation

He adds, “Parents believe that private schools have better infrastructure that is required for the physical and mental development of the child. Thinking that government schools provide the minimum required infrastructure to meet the basic needs of the students and the teachers being less fluent in English language, even government teachers are opting for corporate schools over government schools.”