Hyderabad: With fewer students, cost goes up

Hyderabad: The state government is spending Rs 63,637 on each student in a government school, where the enrolment ratio of students versus teachers is less than 30, according to data confirmed by the Telangana state school education department.

The average cost of student goes up in case of lower enrolment ratio, whereas it decreases if the enrolment ratio is higher.

Of the total 24,550 government schools in the state, 9,505 schools have less than 30 students. The average cost per student at these schools is Rs 63,637, which is the highest.

In case of schools that have between 30 and 100 students, the average cost per student is Rs 39,814. The cost is Rs 30,235 where the student enrolment is from 100 to 200 students and Rs 22,715, the lowest, in schools with more than 200 students.

This reveals that salaries paid to teachers determine the average cost per student. There are 1,37,471 teachers in government schools. An average of Rs 5.78 lakh is spent per annum on paying salary to each teacher, with the total salary outgo on school teachers being `7,596 crore annually.

Officials of the school education department are thus trying to increase the enrolment ratio in schools, which would be more cost effective.

Commissioner of School Education Vijay Kumar, speaking to the Deccan Chronicle, said, “We are focussing on Badi Baata, the flagship programme of the state, to increase the enrolment ratio.”

School authorities are working on the programme to make it successful.