Minister for Education R. Kamalakannan on Friday said the government has taken steps to improve the infrastructure and quality of education in government schools.
Replying to concerns expressed by members about the condition of government schools in the Union Territory, the Minister said much needed to be done to improve the infrastructure and quality of teaching in government schools. In the the last 10 years, successive governments had rested on the laurels achieved in giving financial assistance to Centac-sponsored students in professional colleges. They failed to focus on school education.
Now, the government had decided to take up two schools in a month and carry out infrastructure development work, he said.
To a query by A. Anbalagan (AIADMK), the Minister said 1,62,993 students were studying in private schools, 75,961 in government schools, and 32,052 in government aided schools. He said the quality of education in government schools had been poor. The government schoolchildren failed to find a place in top ranks in SSLC and Plus Two results, he said.
Members’ plea
K. Lakshminarayanan, R.K.R. Anantharaman, M.N.R. Balan, E. Theeppainthan (all Congress), R. Siva (DMK) and T.P.R. Selvame (AINRC) urged the government to improve infrastructure.
In fact, Mr. Anantharaman brought to the House a copy of The Hindu which carried a report ‘Funds crunch hits work in schools’ to buttress his argument. The report clearly indicated the condition of government schools in the Union Territory.
The Minister said the government would take steps to improve the condition of schools.
