No govt school closed as part of reforms: Botcha Satyanarayana

VIJAYAWADA: Minister for Education Botcha Satyanarayana said Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy who concentrated on education, health and agriculture sectors, introduced several reforms for their development. As part of reforms in school education, no school was closed down in the State in the process of merger of the institutions.

Addressing the media on Tuesday, he alleged that 2,900 schools were closed down and nearly 5 lakh student dropouts were registered during the previous TD regime. Refuting the comments of former Finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu against the education sector in the State, Botcha informed that the total strength of students in government schools decreased from 42 lakh in 2014-15 to 37 lakh in 2017-18. Due to the reforms initiated by the YSRC regime, the student strength in government schools increased by 3 lakh.

Under the first phase of Nadu - Nedu, thousands of schools in the State were renovated at a cost of Rs 4,000 crore. School renovation works were taken up at a cost of Rs 8000 crore under the second phase. In the third phase, Rs 6,000 crore will be spent on renovation of government schools to make the compete with corporate private educational institutions in terms of infrastructure and standards.

As many as 44,570 government schools are being revamped in the State under Nadu-Nedu. The reforms initiated in the State were based on the guidelines of the National Education Policy such as the 5+3+3+4 formula in the education system, instead of 10+2 and all the States in the country are following the same, he explained.

Special Chief Secretary B Rajasekhar said their target is to achieve good results in the upcoming  Annual Status of Education Report and other national surveys and do as much as possible to provide quality education to students.

“About 55% of students studied in private schools and 45% in government schools in the State in 2019. Now, 90 to 95% of poor students are studying in government schools. About 96% of parents have backed the introduction of English medium education in government schools. About 35,000 additional classrooms will be constructed in the State by next year to meet the rise in student strength,” he said. School Education Commissioner S Suresh Kumar, Commissioner of Board of Intermediate Education MV Seshagiribabu were also present.

35,000 additional classrooms to be built

About 55% of students studied in private schools and 45% in government schools in 2019. Now, 90 to 95% of poor students are studying in government schools. About 35,000 additional classrooms will be constructed by next year to meet the rise in student strength, said Special Chief Secretary B Rajasekhar