Much to the surprise of the management of government schools especially of Old City, the admissions are gaining momentum ever since the schools reopened from September 1, pointing towards a grim situation created due to the outbreak of the pandemic over a year ago.
The parents especially of slum areas are seen turning their back on private schools, insisting on payment of fees, and choosing government schools for their children as the whiplash of pandemic has squeezed the poor families viciously.
As per the pre-pandemic estimation, there were over five thousand private schools in the old city besides 130 to 150 government Urdu medium schools. A conservative estimation shows that together these institutions impart education to over five lakh students from poor family backgrounds.
“Following the reopening of schools, we witnessed an encouraging trend in admissions into government Urdu medium schools as fresh admissions have jumped significantly along with the old students,” informed Habeeb Abdul Rehman, President Telangana All Minorities Employees and Workers Association (T-ALLMEWA) Rangareddy District.
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Besides regular admissions, he said, a number of entries of children from poor backgrounds have also witnessed whose parents have withdrawn them from private schools unable to cope up with the pressure for fee payment. “This has ratchet-up the admissions into government schools, especially in Urdu medium institutions of slums that brought the foot-fall up,” he explained.
There are a total 79 government schools in Rajendranagar and Gandipet mandals collectively. Both the mandals together have 11 Urdu medium schools. While 10 of them are located in and around Hassan Nagar and Suleman Nagar areas – considered as densely populated slums on the city outskirts, only one is operational at Narsingi under Gandipet mandal. Together these 11 schools form a strength base of over one thousand students from class 1st to 10th standard while over 40 teachers are serving in Primary, Upper Primary and High schools.
Mohammed Anwar, a resident of Rajendranagar, said, “We can’t afford the educational expenses of our wards who, until now, studied in a local private school. Time to time the management is asking for a fee on one pretext to another. Up till now we managed this but we can’t endure this anymore as we are already struggling with post lockdown whiplash. However, we would send our children to a nearby government school to continue their studies and this would also help us educate our children without a burden.”
“Parents were put to trouble by some private institutions who are insisting for fee payment without considering their economic state. Atleast now the government should provide all the facilities in government schools as parents too are evincing interest in sending their children to state run institutions,” said Syed Shoukat Ali, a community activist.
