Hyderabad: Telangana’s education budget for 2024-25 was increased by 11.5 per cent, the highest increase in recent times, reaching Rs 21,292 crore, compared to Rs 19,093 crore allocated in 2023-24, with Deputy Chief Minister and finance minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said that the government was committed to raising the standards in schools and colleges and providing them with necessary facilities.
Bhatti, presenting the Budget, announced a mega District Selection Committee (DSC) recruitment to fill 11,062 existing teacher vacancies in schools. He emphasised that this recruitment would align the number of teachers with the number of students in government schools, ensuring quality education for poor and middle-class students.
“We aim to provide equal educational opportunities for all by addressing the teacher-student ratio in our government schools,” he said.
The minister also criticised the BRS previous government for undermining the autonomy of universities by appointing in-charges instead of full-time Vice Chancellors, leading to chaotic governance. "The Congress government has established search committees to appoint full-time Vice Chancellors for all universities, with appointments expected soon," he said.
In the Budget, Rs 500 crore have been allocated for university infrastructure development, with Rs 100 crores each for Osmania University and Women’s University, and the remaining amount for Kakatiya University and other institutions.
Highlighting the transformation of industrial training institutes (ITIs) into centres of excellence, the minister announced a collaboration with Tata Technologies Limited to upgrade 65 government ITIs. This collaboration aims to introduce six new long-term courses, training 5,860 students annually, and short-term courses for 31,200 students, with Tata Technologies providing modern technological equipment and expert trainers.
This project, launched by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy from Mallepally ITI in June, is a public-private partnership with a total cost of Rs 2,324.2 crores, of which Rs 307.95 crores will be covered by the government, and the remaining amount by Tata Technologies through its CSR programme. The budget proposed `300 crores for this project.
The Telangana Progressive Teachers’ Federation (TPTF) expressed disappointment, stating that the budget allocations continued the policies of the previous government, offering no significant improvements for the education sector. TPTF state president Y Ashok Kumar remarked, "The allocation of 7.31 per cent of the Rs 2,91,159 crore budget to education mirrors the previous government's approach, which failed to bring substantial changes."
General secretary P Nagi Reddy added, "Despite promises of innovative changes and the establishment of international and integrated schools, the budget allocations fall short of these commitments. It seems the current government is also leaving education in the hands of the private sector."
The Student Federation of India (SFI) criticised the Budget, stating that it perpetuated the injustices of the previous administration by not providing adequate funds for fee reimbursements and mess charges. The SFI's state committee voiced concerns over the insufficient allocation for university development. They argued that this amount is insufficient for both maintenance and development, questioning how the government plans to improve public education with such limited funding.
SFI noted that despite the Congress’ manifesto promises, there was no mention of establishing Telangana model international schools in every mandal or creating new universities in Khammam and Adilabad. It criticised the lack of clarity on filling vacancies and providing basic amenities in schools, such as libraries and restrooms.
The organisation called for an immediate revision of the budget to increase allocations for the education sector and improve public education infrastructure.
