Hyderabad: The Telangana government has assured that it would implement multiple steps to improve the 26,065 state-run schools through the ‘Mana Ooru Mana Badi’ scheme over three years, from building basic infrastructure to providing digital classrooms, as well as starting instruction in English medium.
If the government’s ambitious project comes to fruition, it would not be a moment too soon. Several schools are in dire straits and gasping for help.
This reporter travelled to government, zilla and mandal parishad schools in the interiors, in tribal tracks and in towns surrounding headquarters of multiple districts. All over, schools were in need of basic facilities. Just ahead of their reopening after the summer vacation, these schools seem to have been left out of the government’s programme.
Schools face the same problem — dilapidated classrooms, unkempt premises, unhygienic toilets, no provision for drinking water, missing compound walls as well as lack of staff to maintain hygiene.
Multiple schools have students of different classes taught by one or two common teachers. There is a lack of focus on providing study materials and having teaching aids. There are no libraries and there are no laboratories in many cases.
There is no emphasis on imparting social and extra-curricular activities, which are crucial for the overall development of a student. In any case, there are no facilities for the children to play. Schools lack sporting equipment.
Students are forced to make do with the few facilities available to them. While ministers and TRS MLAs heap praises on the functioning of government schools, repeatedly claiming that they have the best facilities, the reality seems to be different altogether as Deccan Chronicle found out.
Schools located close to the district headquarters and Zilla Parishad High Schools (ZPHS) in mandal quarters are better maintained, with facilities such as potable drinking water, clean surroundings, good decoration, artworks on walls and others.
Maintenance of schools is a different story altogether, with staff shortage affecting cleaning of toilets, upkeep of school premises and watering of plants, among others.
In 2022, the government had allocated Rs 16,043 crore to the education sector, up from Rs 15,608 crore last year. The budget has been divided, with Rs 13,727 given for school education and Rs 2,357 crore for higher education.
In order to uplift facilities in government schools, Rs 7,289.54 has been allotted to the Mana Ooru Mana Badi programme. In the first phase, Rs 3,497 crore is to be spent to develop 9,123, or 35 per cent, of state-run schools.
When students step into their classrooms in thousands of schools on Monday, however, they will find that there is a long way to go. This reporter tried to get in touch with the district education officers concerned and the constituency MLAs via phone calls and emails but none of them responded.
…
