The government aims to construct 55 such schools in the state, which translates into having one residential school for two Assembly constituencies
Following the caste census, chief minister A. Revanth Reddy-led Congress government in Telangana appears to have doubled down on its welfare agenda by announcing its intent to spend Rs 11,000 crores to construct Young India Integrated Residential Schools for students from the BC, SC and ST communities.
The government aims to construct 55 such schools in the state, which translates into having one residential school for two Assembly constituencies. The campus of each school, spread over about 20 to 25 acres, will have a hostel, a sports complex and a housing complex will also be built to provide accommodation to the teachers.
The goal is to provide international standard education to the poor, marginalised, weak, ordinary and middle-class children of the state, which appear to be left out of race in the fast-changing global technological landscape.
India spends nearly Rs 8 lakh crores on education every year — Rs 6 lakh crores by state governments and nearly Rs 2 lakh crores by the Central government. The combined spend will make up nearly 3 per cent of India’s Rs 272-lakh crores economy. However, except for a few exceptions, government schools are not known for imparting the best education due to the lack of resources and lack of accountability among teaching and non-teaching staff.
If the Telangana government’s proposal was implemented as envisaged, these schools would become harbinger of equality in the foundational education. However, if the government does not monitor education imparted at these schools, they will not achieve academic excellence. Therefore, the government should follow innovative management models such as institutionalising the collective role of parents to jointly manage these schools or handing over the management of the schools to academic institutions of global repute.
Education is one of the basic facilities that a welfare-focused government is expected to provide to its citizens. It would, thus, be apt to allow a certain number of children from economically-weaker sections, regardless of their caste, to gain admission into these schools.
