Not a single government school closed, asserts Botcha Satyanarayana

Vijayawada: Refuting allegations of the Opposition and a section of media that 8,000 government schools were closed, education minister Botsa Satyanarayana asserted that not a single school was closed and accused the opposition leaders of misleading people with baseless allegations.

Speaking to the media at YSRCP central office in Tadepalli on Thursday, the minister said that currently 42,750 schools are functioning in the state, adding that only a few changes are being made right from anganwadis to all educational institutions, as the government is setting up foundation schools according to the New Education Policy.

He said that the government is striving to provide quality education along with better opportunities to the students and thus rolled out many reforms to increase the educational standard from Class I. "Opposition leaders are behind the malicious propaganda against the government as they are unable to digest the revolutionary reforms ushered in education by the YSRCP government," he said.

Satyanarayana demanded the opposition leaders to prove where the schools were closed. He said out of 42,750 schools, 5,250 schools have been mapped and only 296 schools are located at a distance exceeding one kilometre and stated that changes will be made if any student faces inconvenience. He said that the government is determined to provide English medium education, as students can gain better opportunities and cope with the competitive world.

Further, he said that the state government is prioritising the education sector by implementing schemes like Vidya Devena, Vidya Kanuka, Vasati Devena, Amma Vodi while the previous government had never cared about students or their education. He said that TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu has no moral right to speak on Vidya Kanuka or Goru Muddha, as he couldn't think of giving such kits for free and even failed to provide proper food to the students in midday meals during his tenure.