Hyderabad: Members of the United Teachers Federation (UTF) said the state must first provide basic facilities in all govt schools and regulate fees in private schools to improve enrolment. They said merely bringing Intermediate education under the school education department would not automatically lead to an increase in student enrolment.“We welcome the move to bring intermediate education under the school education system. However, merely merging intermediate with school education and running classes from nursery to class 12 on a single campus, or simply reorganising school education into primary (nursery to class 4), secondary (classes 5 to 8), and higher secondary (classes 9 to 12), will not automatically increase student enrolment or ensure quality education,” said Chava Ravi, president of UTF.The UTF state committee demanded that the govt first address the existing problems in govt schools and restore parents’ confidence in them. “We also believe that the merger will have limited benefit unless the commercialisation of education in private schools is regulated, infrastructure gaps in govt schools are addressed and service-related issues concerning teachers and lecturers are resolved,” said A Venkat, general secretary of UTF.The federation also pointed out that it was essential to consult key stakeholders, including teachers’ and lecturers’ unions, before taking major policy decisions in the education sector.
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