Amidst mounting concern over future prospects of various sectors in the Seemandhra region if the State is bifurcated, comes comforting piece of news that the school education scenario may more or less remain unaffected.
“As far as the existing government-run schools are concerned, both the Seemandhra and Telangana regions have nearly an equal number. But Seemandhra has an upper hand when it comes to private schools,” says Krishna District Education Officer (DEO) D. Devanand Reddy.
With regard to executive posts in the administrative wings of the Education Department, the number of Telangana people working in the Seemandhra region far exceeds the total strength of Seemandhra people employed in the Telangana area.
At an advantage
“We stand to gain in the event of a division as the posts occupied by Telangana people will fall vacant for the Seemandhra employees,” says Mr. Reddy.
Providing information on segregation of the executive posts, the DEO says that of the total 12 posts of Additional Director in the State, eight are with Telangana persons and the remaining four with Seemandhra.
In the Joint Director cadre, of the total 14 posts, 10 are with Telangana and four with Seemandhra, the 30 District Education Officer posts are shared in the ratio of 17 and 13 by Telangana and Seemandhra respectively and the 30 Deputy DEO posts are divided as 16 (Telangana) and 14 (Seemandhra).
610 G.O.
A large number of teachers from the 13 districts of Seemandhra region are employed in the Telangana region.
“In the last five-six years, over 2,000 of them have been sent back under the 610 G.O. and nearly 1,500 more are still working there,” he says.
Impact
Meanwhile, the impact of the ongoing Samaikyandhra agitation has begun to affect the education sector.
“Of the total 15,000 teachers in Krishna district, only 500 of them gave strike notice on August 21. But the number of striking teachers has increased to 7,000 now.
“Besides, Mandal Education Officers and a large chunk of DEO office staff have also joined the strike,” he says.
Speaking about the academic loss for students, the DEO says any decision on how to make up for the lost time can be taken only after the strike is called off.
