Restoring Public Faith in Public Classrooms
The State’s Obligation to Rebuild Public Education
Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has told the Assembly on Friday that the young India Skills University (YISU) is named after Mahatma Gandhi’s magazine ‘Young India’ and many foreign universities are coming forward to establish their branches in India. These universities will impart education in languages like Germany, French and Russian also beside the other subjects in science, engineering and technology. The YISU will be headed by a top industrialist in the country and the university’s board will have accomplished industrialists as members. The idea of the government is to help the students and not to harm them.
New education policy would be fully introduced soon in the state, Revanth said. The policy would aim at teaching skills to Gen Z and it would also include Gen Alpha and Gen Beta in its comprehensive purview. He said against Rs 19,093 crore allocated by the BRS government, the Congress govt. allocated Rs. 21,292 cr. In 2024-25, Rs 23,108 cr. In 2025-26 and Rs. 26.647 cr. in 2026-27. He assured all the genuine colleges will get their fee reimbursement dues in a phased manner while ‘others’ will be under scrutiny.
The CM said “the American dream is being shattered by the AI and thousands of engineers emerging from the state need new hope. The YISU is the answer for that, he maintained. Revanth Reddy highlighted teacher recruitment saying 10,996 teacher posts had been filled within 55days during the first year of the Congress government without a single allegation of irregularity. In contrast, the previous government had recruited only 7, 857 teachers over ten years.
Privatization Fear or Reform? The Debate Over Young India Skill University
Gen Z movement was launched in Telangana, the first state in South India, when the students of polytechnics have hit the roads last week to protests against the proposal of the government to merge the polytechnic institutes with a YISU which is an organization floated on PPP basis. Akunuri Murali, IAS and the former chairman of Telagnana Education Commission in his interview to Tulasi Chandu, a YouTuber, on Friday, supported the government move to attach the polytechnics to the YISU. He argued that instead of the Board of Technical Education it will be the YISU which will be giving certificates to the students of polytechnics and there will be no change in the facilities enjoyed by the students in future. The question of privatization does not arise, he said. Murali supported the concept of Telangana Public Schools also.
Between State Policy and Central Ideology
The students, however, suspect that Revanth Reddy might say anything for public consumption, but at his heart he is inclined towards the BJP policies, especially in education. He believes in privatization. The National Education Policy (NEP) recommends the same. The government of Telangana had not taken a public stand on the NEP which came into force in 2020. While the other Southern states such as Tamil Nadu and Keralam had rejected it, the Telangana has neither accepted nor rejected it. But the education department in Telangana, which has been kept by the CM himself, has been implementing some important aspects of the NEP which ultimately leads to privatization, the students fear.
The students and the faculty members of the polytechnic institution across the state of Telangana have been bitterly opposing the CM’s policy of implementing the recommendations of the NEP. His plan to merge the polytechnic institutes with the Young India Skills University YISU) is being strongly opposed by the teachers and students of polytechnics. The GO. MS. 97 which formalizes the merger proposal has become controversial in the light of students’ protests and governments insistence on continuing with it. The students have been protesting for some weeks demanding the withdrawal of the controversial GO.
Corporatization of Higher Learning
YISU established under private-public partnership with business tycoon Anand Mahendra as its chairman is not recognized by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). It has no Board of Governors so far. Prioritising vocational to formal education is the most important aspect of the NEP. Establishing YISU and issuance of GO. No. 97 amount to adhering to the NEP which is rejected by TN and Keralam. Revanth, on his return from London after his US trip was aborted, told the media that his insistence on skills and sports is part of the NEP. He is making no bones about it.
Why are some states opposing the NEP? The biggest criticism against the NEP is the commercialization and privatization of educational institutions. The NDA government is keen on clubbing small schools into a school complex. The Ministry of Education had told Lok Sabha in February 2025, the number of government schools in India fell from about 11.07 lakh in 2014-15 (the year in which Narendra Modi became PM) to 10.17 lakh in 2023-24 while private schools grew from 2.88 lakh to 3.31 lakh during the same period. A NITI Aayog review put the total closures over the decade at 94,000.
The Battle Over G.O. Ms. 97
Defending GO. No. 97, Revanth ruled out privatization of polytechnics and said the BRS was misleading students. He said the industry is pumping Rs. 4,000 crores into polytechnics and foreign industries have signed MoUs with YISU, he claimed. The CM also alleged that a private university associated with a close aide of KCR had more than Rs 400 crores in its bank account. “Where did this money come from? Is education a business?” he asked. He told the students, “Why will I cheat you? I came from government school and I understand your needs.” It is to be seen how far the government stands by what the chief minister said and what the students and faculty of the polytechnic institutions will do. The trust deficit should be overcome by the government through its sincere implementation of what Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has told the Assembly.
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.
Email: murthykondubhatla@gmail.com
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