Govt. hell-bent on ruining residential educational institutions: BRS

BRS leader and former IPS officer R.S. Praveen Kumar speaking to the media in Hyderabad on Friday.
| Photo Credit: By Arrangement

HYDERABAD

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader and former IPS officer R.S. Praveen Kumar has alleged that the Congress Government in the State is bent upon destroying the education sector in Telangana as it is doing with the irrigation, agriculture, urban development and real estate sectors.

Addressing a press conference here on Friday, he said that the government was unmoved despite the spree of deaths of 57 students in residential schools and welfare hostels due to food poisoning and other health issues due to the highly unhygienic conditions and also suicides of the inmates due to harassment by officials. The conditions in residential schools are shameful.

The neglect of residential educational institutions in the State since the Congress party came to power had been forcing parents to withdraw their children and admit them to other, mostly private, schools. There was heavy competition for admission in residential educational institutions during BRS rule and there were instances of parents coaxing politicians for recommendation, Mr. Praveen Kumar said.

However, the situation had reversed now with not even 80,000 students applying for 40,000 seats available for admission into the fifth standard. Applications had not reached even 1:2 ratio despite extension of the last date three times. In the past, there was more than 1:3 competition. It appears that Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy is holding the education portfolio only to destroy it completely, he remarked.

Mr. Praveen Kumar, who was the Secretary to the residential educational institutions society before joining politics, sought to know why the Chief Minister was unwilling to conduct entrance test for admission into ‘pratibha’ schools, which had given several engineers and doctors from the downtrodden sections to the society. But, government is conspiring to disband these schools, he alleged.

The Congress Government is also neglecting the special school opened near Bhongir for training the youth to join the Armed forces. The government is also discriminating against students of residential schools even after their medal-winning performance in sports and games at national level.