Telugu Desam Party MLC P. Ashok Babu has claimed that nearly 8 lakh students have dropped out of the government schools in Andhra Pradesh in the last one year due to certain policy decisions of the Education Department. The number of students at the time of the reopening of schools in June was 37.59 lakh when compared to 45.71 lakh during the corresponding month in 2021-22 academic year, he said.
Addressing the media at the TDP State office on July 10 (Monday), Mr. Ashok Babu said if the government’s claim to have reformed the education system and augmented the infrastructure in schools under the Nadu-Nedu programme at huge costs was true, such a large number of students would not have dropped out of the schools in a span of just one year.
He insisted that the sudden implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) and the imposition of English medium on students were responsible for a large number of them opting out of the government schools.
The policy of rationalisation resulted in the closure of many schools in the State, and the English medium of instruction caught the students as well as teachers unawares. They were struggling to cope with the conversion from Telugu to English medium. The students should have been allowed to choose between English and Telugu medium but the government did not apply proper thought to it, he said.
Mr. Ashok Babu further said the lack of basic amenities in hostels and the nagging problems faced by the students in availing scholarships forced them to either go to private schools if their parents could afford it, or drop out of the schools altogether.
Funds being remitted into the bank accounts of mothers under the Amma Vodi scheme were being utilised to meet the monthly expenditure incurred by the households. Because of this, students were unable to pay their fees on time, the TDP leader said.
