Small spending cannot bring big change in education: SIO

​Hanamkonda: Small spending on education would not help making big and desirable change in the educational status of Telangana State, felt the leaders of Students Islamic Organisation (SIO).

A minimum of 30 per cent of total budget has to be set aside for education sector to fulfil educational needs of all sections in the society; the SIO state president Md Layeeq Ahmed Khan demanded the State government.

Speaking to presspersons in Hanamkonda on Thursday, he reminded that Kothari commission in its report in 1966 also recommended 30 per cent budgetary allocation for education. He found fault with the government for failing to come up with a vision document on proposed free KG to PG programme even after three years of the State’s formation.

A vision document on KG to PG education must be presented in ensuing budget session. 10 per cent of the budget being spent now on education would not suffice to address the issues in the field of education.

Hence funding for education in this budget increased. The government’s promises to create ‘Golden Telangana’ but poor spending on education would not help to achieve it, the SIO leader noted.

Ahmed Khan complained that the students living in the social welfare hostels lack basic amities like clean drinking water and hygienic living conditions. A cabinet committee should be formed to study conditions of the hostels and a separate fund should be allocated to improve infrastructure at the hostels.

The government should immediately issue fee regulatory guidelines to tackle excessive collection of fees in private schools and make provision to book the violators. A committee should be set up to look into engineering education and to suggest reforms, Ahmed Khan suggested.

‘The overall dropout rate in the State is 38.21 per cent among first to tenth class students. It means more than one third of school-going children are the drop outs and is alarming sign for a like Telangana which aims for greater IT investments in its metro cities,’ he worried.

The SIO leader also wanted committed efforts from the government to give a boost to education among minorities and focus should be laid on improving conditions at minority schools and colleges.