Former Union Minister Chinta Mohan on Tuesday said that the rural education system was bogged down by mushrooming of private institutions and weakening of the government schools and colleges.
Speaking at charity programme organised for the rural students at ZP High School at Varadaiahpalem mandal headquarters, Mr. Mohan observed that there was a dire need to galvanise the entire primary and higher education sectors in the country, particularly in rural areas. He said that one-teacher schools, absenteeism among the teachers, lack of nutritious food, uniforms and textbooks had hit the rural education system, coupled with rural poverty. “Besides collecting heavy fee and donations, the private institutions are also exploiting the rural parents by making promises of admissions in premier institutes and placements,” he said.
He said that though there were thousands of engineering colleges in the country, the unemployment rate was alarming. Instead of treating the Industrial Training Institutes, polytechnics and vocational training centres as separate entities, they should be merged with the engineering colleges. He said that focus should be laid on setting up of more number of skill development centres in the rural areas for the benefit of rural youth. Mr. Mohan said that the anganwadi schools should be strengthened by appointing qualified teachers. “The anganwadi education system requires premier importance as at this age that the children need the best foundation,” he said. He said that voluntary organisations and donors should come forward in large numbers to support the rural schools in the areas of infrastructure.
IMA senior functionary Krishna Prashanti in memory of her mother Sarojini, a renowned physician, had donated lab equipment and other infrastructural needs worth about ₹2 lakh.