Tirupati: Teachers oppose schools rejig

Tirupati: Government school teachers have been opposing the decision of the state government to restructure schools to be in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. In particular, they are against the move to shift Classes 3 to 5 from the primary schools to the nearby secondary schools saying that rural students will have to go far away from their home which may lead to dropouts.

It may be recalled that the state government has recently announced the physical restructuring of schools in its bid to take forward the NEP-2020 and move towards the new set up. Accordingly, it has issued guidelines which indicate major changes. One of the key changes would be shifting students of Classes 3 to 5 to the nearby upper primary schools from the primary schools.

This became inevitable under the new set up advocated by the NEP-2020 suggesting replacement of the 10+2 system with 5+3+3+4 structure. The AP government has proposed three kinds of schools called pre-primary schools, foundational schools and secondary schools. While the existing Anganwadi centres will be made YSR pre-primary schools, the current primary schools will become foundational schools with preparatory classes and Classes 1 and 2.

However, students of Class 3 to 5 are to be shifted to the nearby secondary school under the new structure which was being opposed by teachers and their unions who are supporting the move to club pre-primary schools with primary schools.

They argue that shifting Classes 3 to 5 to secondary schools will make them distant from small children as they are not as accessible as the primary schools.

This may lead to more dropouts and particularly parents may think twice to send girl students to schools which are far away. The AP United Teachers Federation (UTF) Chittoor district president K Muthyala Reddy, vice-president D Nirmala and other leaders have presented a memorandum to Tirupati MLA Bhumana Karunakar Reddy on Tuesday seeking his intervention in withdrawing the new move by the government.

They said that it will be difficult for parents to send small children studying Classes 3 to 5 to schools located 3 to 10 km away from their homes. Hence, this proposal should be withdrawn immediately and the government should discuss with educationists, teachers unions and parents before arriving at any decision as part of implementing NEP 2020.

Moreover, it would be difficult for the small children to mingle with high school students. At a time when schools get a modern look under Nadu-Nedu and attract students and parents, the decision to shift some classes from primary schools may become detrimental to the interests of primary schools.