Telangana: Urdu school tuition funds siphoned off

Hyderabad: Teachers of about 76 Urdu medium schools in the state are pocketing lakhs of rupees from funds that the Centre provides for Educational development of minorities every month. They put in no additional efforts, social activists point out. 

The Centre for Educational Development of Minorities (CEDM) introduced a free coaching scheme for Urdu medium students two decades ago. The scheme was initially implemented in 20 schools and now about 76 schools across the state are benefiting from it.

As per the scheme, the selected Urdu medium schools have to conduct ‘special classes’ every morning and evening for the students. 

A teacher is paid Rs 55 per period and classes for three subjects, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies and two languages, Telugu and English, are conducted after or before school hours. If calculated, each school gets around Rs 10,000 a month for the entire academic year and this can go up to Rs 1 lakh. 

“The headmaster/principal are the coordinators for the coaching classes and they sent us monthly bills. We process it and hand over the payments to the coordinator. Several thousand students have benefited through the scheme,” claimed Prof. S.A. Shukoor, Director CEDM.

Most of the Urdu medium high schools in the State, including Hyderabad are conducting special coaching classes or remedial classes for all SSC students every day following instructions from the educational department officials.

“The higher officials asked us to spend a couple of hours with the students to improve the pass percentage of government schools in the districts. So we are organising the classes in the mornings and evenings. There is no remuneration being paid to us,” said a teacher from Government Girls’ High School, Vattepally. 

A school principal from Old City where the CEDM classes are conducted, admi-tted that they conduct the classes “simultaneously’. 

“Instead of the mandatory classes we are being asked to take by our higher officials, we are going for the CEDM classes,” the principal explained.

Mr S. Q. Masood, a social activist from Old City, feels that the CEDM is wasting money by paying the teachers for taking classes after school hours. “Where is the need to pay the government school staff again when the government is already paying them salaries? Remedial classes are being conducted in almost all government managed schools and why make exceptions for a few schools by making payments,” he asks.