Government schools witness huge surge in admissions

Tirupati: Taking everyone by surprise, the demand for seats in government schools in Chittoor district has recorded a steep increase this academic year. What is more significant was that government schools got 52,650 new admissions this year.

Of them, 27, 169 joined in first class and 25,481 have been admitted in various classes and they have come from private schools. Even, the Education department officials have not expected such increase in demand for government schools. Explaining the reasons, both teachers and parents have maintained that the performance of government schools has been improving a lot.

These schools were having experienced and qualified faculty, virtual classrooms and other attractions. The performance of government school students in Class X examinations was also improving over the years, said a teacher.

Another factor that might have helped for the increase in demand was the reduction in the payment capacity of parents due to continuous droughts, said another teacher. There was another opinion that Amma Vodi scheme has also helped for the increase in enrolment for admissions in government schools as the parents initially thought that scheme would be applicable for government schools only.

The shifting of thousands of students from private schools to government schools should be seen from this perspective, the teachers argue, who demanded the government to confine the scheme only to the mothers of government school children.

Some government schools in the district have been performing extraordinarily well which have already displayed 'No seats' boards. Vivekananda Municipal School in Madanapalle was the first such school which has gained much popularity among public and parents have queued up to admit their children there.

"Availability of English Medium, free textbooks and uniforms, introduction of modern method of teaching by experienced faculty are the prime factors for admitting our two children in government school, said L Parameswari of Tirupati.

DEO Dr K Panduranga Swamy told The Hans India that this trend will increase the responsibility of teachers, who need to fulfil the aspirations of the parents and students. When asked about the faculty availability, he said that several teachers will get promotions in the next few days to high schools. For primary schools, additional teachers may be required.

He also said that they have been taking steps to provide additional textbooks to the newly joined students. Now, it's for the government to take steps to strengthen government schools and keep up the momentum by completing the recruitment of teachers without further delay, he said.