Why did academics and activists sleep in Telangana schools? | Explainer
Budgetary support for education has declined to a single-digit percentage of the State outlay and has remained so over the past decade
The Telangana People's Front, a coalition of academics, bureaucrats and activists, embarked on a twelve-day tour of Telangana schools dubbed the 'Vidya Bus Yatra' to assess and bring attention to the state of education in the region. Education budgeting in Telangana has consistently remained at a single-digit percentage of the state's outlay for the past decade, despite repeated calls for reform.
Following the emergence of the Congress government under A. Revanth Reddy, a Telangana Education Commission led by former IAS officer Akunuri Murali was established to recommend measures for sector improvement. However, after the commission's two-year tenure, Murali stepped down and initiated the 'Vidya Bus Yatra' to further advocate for change.
The commission submitted a 354-page report after inspecting 305 institutions across all 33 districts, which included four annexures with draft bills outlining a six-phase infrastructure upgrade plan at a total cost of ₹31,600 crores over five years. A functioning example of this is the Telangana Public School at Arutla, located approximately 50 km from Hyderabad, which provides English-medium education in airy classrooms, playgrounds, free transport, three daily meals, and sports facilities.
The activists not only toured the schools but also slept in them overnight to gain firsthand experience of their conditions. During their visits, they discovered that Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) data, which is updated daily for national ranking purposes, often doesn't align with the actual ground reality. For instance, a school may have a drinking water tap, but its functionality varies.
The UN 'Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene in schools 2015-2025' report revealed that 50 million Indian children, or five crore, still lack access to sanitation services at their schools. TPF members expressed discontent with resource mismanagement and irrational staff deployment, citing numerous examples where schools have an excess of classrooms but inadequate rooms, or insufficient teachers for larger student populations.
Written by urgent.news from The Hindu's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
