Andhra Pradesh government sources hint at municipal schools merger

VIJAYAWADA: Has the process of bringing Municipal schools under the Department of School Education begun? Sources in the government say yes. There are 2,115 municipal schools in the State and around 14,000 teachers are working there.

The municipal teachers said a report has been sent to all the municipal commissioners by respective Regional Directors of Municipal Administration (RDMA).

According to sources, some of the municipality commissioners were given permission for the merger even before the councils passed resolutions in that regard. The Kakinada Municipal Council reportedly accepted the proposal to bring the municipal schools under the purview of the School Education department, but it opposed the proposed transfer of assets.

Recently, Minister for Municipal Administration Audimulapu Suresh assured the teachers' unions that there were no plans to bring municipal schools under the School Education department, except a monitoring by it.

The Municipal Teachers said in the report, the RDMA directed the municipal commissioners to include the merger proposal in the agenda of the council to get its approval.

The New Indian Express tried to contact Director of Municipal Administration Pravin Kumar to get details of the proposal, but he was not available. Last Saturday, municipal teachers held a Zoom meeting and condemned the government's plan to bring municipal schools under the school education department.

They decided to stage protests against the decision and requested all the school parent committees across the State to oppose the proposal. The Municipal Teachers Federation founder president S Rama Krishna criticised the government plan.

He alleged that the points noted against the Municipal schools in the government report were false. Schools of the School education department and Zilla Parishat don't have service rules, but Municipal schools have service rules, he pointed out.

Ramakrishna also criticised the merger plan without seeking the opinion of the municipal teachers. He demanded a clarity regarding implementation of benefits to the municipal teachers, if the merger plan is implemented. State Teachers Association state president L Sai Srinivas also criticised the proposal.