Hyderabad: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has urged government school teachers to support the State government’s mission to build a strong and prosperous Telangana for the future.
Speaking at a gathering of teachers from 30,000 government schools at LB Stadium on Friday, he emphasized the importance of education. Education is a top priority for his government as it is essential for achieving this goal.
The Chief Minister recalled the significant role teachers played in creating the separate Telangana state. He noted that teachers had hoped to gain respect and see improvements in the education sector in the new state. However, he claimed that teachers faced insults and humiliation from the previous government over the past 10 years.
Revanth Reddy pointed out that there are 30,000 government schools and 10,000 private schools in the state. While 26 lakh students attend government schools, about 33 lakh students go to private schools. He mentioned that government school teachers are more qualified than those in private schools. Despite this, the number of enrollments in government schools dropped by 2 lakh last year, indicating a failure to provide basic amenities.
The Chief Minister highlighted that parents from poor, Dalit, ST, minority, and other privileged communities still trust government school teachers and send their children to these schools. To maintain this trust, the state government wanted to allocate 10 percent of the total budget to education. However, due to other commitments, only 7.3 percent of the budget, amounting to 21,000 crore, was allocated to education.
Revanth Reddy also addressed long-pending issues of teachers such as promotions and transfers. He assured that the state government is committed to restoring teachers’ faith and trust by ensuring timely salary payments and addressing promotion and transfer issues.
The Chief Minister emphasized that his government listens to the people and aims to resolve their issues. He assured teachers that they would receive their salaries on time and would not have to pay out of pocket for school maintenance. The government has allocated Rs 73 crore for Self-help groups forming Amma Adharsha School Committees to handle this.
He urged teachers to work hard to improve the credibility of government schools and make parents proud to send their children there. The government is also providing free electricity and improving basic amenities in schools.
In addition to education, Revanth Reddy highlighted the importance of sports for students’ holistic development. The government is developing a sports policy to build mini-stadiums in mandals to encourage sports. To address the skill gap and make students employable, the government is transforming 65 ITIs into Advanced Technology Centers (ATCs) and establishing the Young India Skill University to provide training in 17 employable skills, in partnership with industries.
Lastly, the Chief Minister expressed concern over young school children getting addicted to ganja and drugs. He assured that his government is taking strong actions to curb this menace and appealed to teachers to help provide good education and prevent students from falling into these dangerous habits.
