PNS|Hyderabad
In a bid to strengthen public education and boost student enrollment in government schools, the Department of Education convened a high-level meeting with representatives of teacher associations under the theme ‘Telangana: Future Ready’ on Wednesday at Godavari Hall, SCERT, Hyderabad.
The session was presided over by Dr Yogita Rana, Secretary, Department of Education, and saw participation from EV Narsimhareddy, Director of School Education, who kickstarted the meeting with a detailed presentation on student performance in NAS and ASER assessments. He also highlighted the concerning decline in enrollment in government schools.
In her address, Yogita Rana emphasised the urgent need to elevate the quality of education and invited constructive inputs from the teaching community. Teacher associations responded with a series of suggestions aimed at improving infrastructure, classroom delivery and public perception of government schools.
Among the key proposals were conducting the Badi Bata enrollment drive in April or late May, introducing pre-primary classes in government schools and linking them with Anganwadi centres. Associations stressed the importance of organising exposure visits to model schools, conducting teacher trainings during holidays and ensuring sessions are led by capable resource persons.
They also called for stronger school-level monitoring, rationalisation of teacher distribution and action against private schools violating norms. Recommendations included provision of psychological support for teachers, promoting success stories through local media, implementing spoken English programs and ensuring one teacher per classroom to build parental trust.
Teachers further urged the department to relieve them from non-teaching responsibilities and ensure temporary replacements during maternity leave or deputation. They also recommended that Best Teacher Awards be based on departmental nominations rather than applications.
Commissioner of Collegiate and Technical Education A Sridevasena, Special Secretary M Haritha and all Additional Directors of School Education participated in the meeting, which concluded with the department reaffirming its commitment to work hand-in-hand with educators to revitalise government schools.
Teacher associations welcomed the initiative and called for more frequent engagement with officials to ensure timely and effective reforms in the public education system.
