Congress govt. striving to reform education system in Telangana: Revanth

Extending gratitude to all for instilling confidence that the government residential schools will also groom talented students, he said a strong misconception was that the students of private institutions were more talented than the government schools.

Addressing a meeting organized as part of the uniform diet programme after visiting social welfare residential school in Chilkoor, he said the people's government was working hard to remove such misconceptions. Former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao launched the concept of residential school for the first time in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.

Many students, who studied in residential schools, have been selected as IAS and IPS officers. TGPSC Chairman B Venkatesham and former TGPSC Chairman M Mahendar Reddy also studied in residential schools and were selected as IAS and IPS officers. Numerous famous persons studied in residential schools and excelled in their respective fields.

The State government took a decision to instill complete confidence among SC, ST, BC and minority students. The State government was moving forward with a firm resolve to completely reform the education system and raise the educational standards, he said.

The previous BRS government did not give adequate priority to diet, cosmetics and infrastructure in the government schools. The people's government enhanced the diet and cosmetics charges at one go. Diet charges have been increased by 40 per cent and cosmetic charges by 200 per cent keeping in view the increased prices and the difficulties faced by the students.

First time in the history of the country, such a big increase of charges happened in Telangana only. As many as 23 lakh students were studying in 26,000 government schools in Telangana while 33 lakh students enrolled in 11,000 private schools.

“Are those teaching in private schools more qualified than government teachers? Why are we unable to produce multi-talented students? Why shouldn't we think about it? Isn't this our responsibility?” Welfare and development are like two eyes for me. Spending on education is not an expenditure and instead an investment for their future,” he explained.

“What have we learned since 70 years? Why are not we planning for the next academic year in advance? We must introspect and find a permanent solution. It is our responsibility and we cannot escape from it,” Revanth Reddy said.

A girl died recently due to food poisoning. The grieving parents must have undergone a lot of trouble. Rich and the poor show their affection towards their children equally. “Parents repose faith in us and send their children to hostels. We should be responsible. Such incidents will increase our honour and reputation or not..? Need to take precautions and stop the recurrence of such incidents,” he said.

Instructing officials to provide funds through the green channel by the 10th of every month, Revanth Reddy entrusted the work of the stitching of school uniforms to women self-help groups and increased the fee for school uniform stitching from Rs. 25 to Rs. 75.

He said the State government was providing free electricity to all government schools and added he already instructed officials and public representatives to visit residential schools two to three days a week. “Unemployment problem is increasing due to lack of skills. The State government upgraded 75 ITIs as Advanced Technology Centers in collaboration with Tata Company. Providing skill development training to unemployed through Young India Skills University is underway,” he explained.

The Young India Skills University is a role model for the country. The State government was ready to set up a Young India Sports University and a sports academy with an aim to win medals in the 2028 Olympics. World Boxing champion Nikhat Zareen and International cricketer Mohammed Siraz have been given government jobs aiming to encourage sports.

Appealing to students to excel in sports and hone skills, Revanth Reddy said teachers should encourage students to excel in other talents and the State government was ready to provide facilities for required training. Stating that the government was setting up Young India Integrated Residential Schools in every assembly constituency to compete with the corporate institutions, he said the government took the responsibility of providing quality education along with basic facilities. Spending money on education should be seen as an investment for future generations.

“I will visit residential schools during his every official tour in the State. Stringent action will be initiated against those who failed to perform their duties,” he warned, asking officials to empower students to monitor food they consume everyday and set up mess management committees with students.