Telangana CM’s Proposal to Cut 23,000 Village Schools Sparks Backlash
Students, parents and educationists in Telangana are worried about the statement made by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy at the Hindu conclave in Bengaluru on June 6. Revanth Reddy has said that the 27 thousand government schools in the villages will be reduced to 4,000 schools. It means the CM wants to close down 23 thousand schools. This act of the government would be against what he promised after taking over as CM and what the Congress election manifesto said.
Activists Remind CM: Closing High-Strength Village Schools Violates Child Rights
In an open letter signed by 125 educationists and intellectuals of Telangana, the CM was reminded of the disaster his decision means. The letter was released at Sundarayya Vignyan Kendram on Tuesday, 07 June 2026. Revanth Reddy was reminded that what he planned will be violation of the Constitutional provision. According the Article 21 A of the Constitution and the Right to Education Act, children aged between 6 and 14 years would get free education. It is the responsibility of the government and the right of the children. Among the schools the CM wants to close there would be thousands of schools each with a strength of more than hundred children.
125 Intellectuals Outline the Tragic Toll of Telangana’s School Mergers
If the schools are not in the neibourhood, the children, especially the girls, would stop going to schools and become dropouts. Some of them will be forced to join the private schools and others will end up as child laborers. Hence closing down the government schools will be against social justice and democratic rights. It will remain as a dark chapter in the country’s history, the letter warns the CM. Moreover, the election manifesto of the Congress commented that money spent on education is not expenditure but an investment on future. The manifesto had promised to allocate 15 percent of the budget to education. Contrary to the promise, the Telangana government has been releasing 8.2 percent of the budget for education as against the national average is 15 percent. The Congress manifesto also promised that the 600 government schools that were closed during the BRS rule will be reopened and better facilities will be provided. Instead of doing that, the CM talking about closing down 23,000 schools is a tragedy.
The open letter to the chief minister has said the private education has been thriving as a roaring business while only 34 percent of the students are left in government schools. There are no supervisors to monitor the field of education. Out of the total 33 districts in Telangana, as many as 25 districts have no DEOs. Out of 633 mandals, 612 mandals have no MEOs. No wonder that Telangana is last among the Southern States as far as education is concerned. Instead of undertaking a comprehensive survey to know the reasons as to why there are some government schools with zero admissions, the government contemplating closure of thousands of schools is irresponsible.
Activists Call for Primary Sections in High Schools to Arrest Rural Dropout Rates
In order to stop this destruction of education system, as first step the government has to withdraw the statement that 23 thousand schools will be closed. As promised in the Congress election manifesto, all the schools in the villages should be continued and primary sections should be opened in all high schools. All schools should be provided with good toilets, drinking water and digital facility. All vacant posts of teaching and non-teaching staff should be immediately filled. GO No 1 should be strictly implemented to regulate private schools. The future of Telangana State would be in jeopardy if the field of education is not protected.
The modern school building recently opened by Revanth Reddy at Gajwel was referred to by Prof Haragopal. He said the new building has primary school, high school, intermediate college and degree college and principal has told him that the admissions in the school went down because the new school building is far from the town. Prof Shiva Prasad said the standards of education have been falling down. Speakers including Nandini Siddha Reddy, the kendra sahitya academy award winner, said the civil society has not been responding to the bizarre statement of CM or any other matter.
The Growing List of Unanswered Institutional Failures
This state of passive civil society is not confined to Telangana. It is the same story all over the country. Be it failure of the government in conducting NEET examinations or manipulation of voters’ lists by the Election Commission in the name of Special Intensive Revision, the civil society does not react adequately. Sonam Wangchuk, innovator, activist, education reformer and environmentalist from Ladakh, who has been fasting in solidarity with the Cacroaches Party at Jantar Mantar in Delhi demanding the resignation of the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, is unwell. Anything may happen to him anytime. The ruling party has not reacted so far. The PM has left Delhi on a foreign trip. Even the opposition parties are not making enough noise. There is no movement in any of the cities and towns across the country by the civil society. Even Cacroaches Party also has not been organizing solidarity movements outside Delhi. The civil society has to be awakened.
Prominent Journalist
Dr. K. Ramachandra Murthy is a versatile journalist with a distinguished career. Dr. Murthy began his extensive career with Andhra Prabha of The Indian Express group in Bengaluru. He was editor of Udayam, Vaartha and Andhra Jyothy. Dr. Murthy founded and edited HMTV news channel and The Hans India, an English newspaper. He was also editorial director of the Telugu newspaper, Saakshi. He was awarded Ph. D for his research work in rural reporting. Dr. Murthy’s five decades in journalism showcases his influential roles across both print and electronic media. He wrote the political biography of NTR published by Harper Collins.
