State govt to do away with schools’ rejig GO

Ongole: The state government has decided to repeal GO Ms No 117, issued by the previous YSRCP government, which established norms for reapportioning teaching staff in government, zilla and mandal parishad schools. It will finalise a new school structure after discussing proposals submitted by recognised teachers’ unions.

GO Ms No 117, issued in June 2022, aimed at implementing the Right to Education Act 2009 and the National Education Policy 2020 by restructuring schools into a 5+3+3+4 design. This restructuring involved relocating existing Anganwadi centres and non-residential schools run by various departments into different categories, including Satellite Foundation Schools, Foundational Schools, Pre High Schools, High Schools and High Schools Plus.

The implementation of this order led to several problems. Primary school students from Classes 3-5 were forced to attend distant high schools, causing many parents to opt for nearby private schools instead.

Many high schools lacked sufficient classrooms to accommodate merged classes or newly added grades, leading to makeshift arrangements in headmaster rooms or computer labs.

Teachers faced challenges adapting to new grade levels and teaching in English medium, while some primary schools were left with single teachers after staff transfers. These changes resulted in a difficult transition period for both students and teachers.

In Prakasam district, the Classes 3, 4, and 5 in 404 primary schools were merged into 272 high schools. This shift caused a decrease of admissions in Class 1, from around 35,000 in 2022-23 to 30,000 in 2023-24, and to 27,000 in 2024-25. Also, about 320 primary schools, that have pre-primary, and Classes 1 and 2 became single-teacher schools.

In response to these problems and prolonged agitation by teachers’ unions, the NDA government, which had promised to revoke GO Ms No 117 during their election campaign, decided to cancel the order and restructure schools again by the next academic year. Last week, the teachers’ unions submitted recommendations for school restructuring and teacher rationalisation.

AP Teachers Federation (APTF), one of the unions, proposed a new structure consisting of two types of schools: pre-primary to Class 5, and Class 6 to Class 10 or 12. They suggested establishing at least one primary school in each village and maintaining specific pupil-teacher ratios across different grade levels.

The union also advocated for the continuation of both Telugu and English medium instruction and the appointment of one physical education teacher for every 200 students.

The unions argue that the previous rationalisation reduced teacher posts, disadvantaging unemployed individuals. They are optimistic that the government will approve their proposals, addressing student and teacher concerns. The school education is going to hold a meeting with unions to discuss this further.