Education Minister A. Suresh on Friday asserted that it was the responsibility of the government to give children access to quality education so they could face the competitive world with confidence in future.
Addressing the media at the Secretariat, the Minister said the objective of introducing English as the medium of instruction in the government schools for classes I to VIII from the next academic year (2020-21) was to equip the students with what it takes to face the cut-throat competition.
“The government is firm on giving equal priority to the mother tongue and will do everything possible for development of Telugu language,” he added.
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In an apparent reference to the protests from certain quarters against the government’s decision, the Minister said Telugu would remain as one of the mandatory subjects and that no compromise would be made on this count.
In the current academic year, of the total strength of 70,90,217 students, only 44,21,529 (62.36 %) students were studying in the English medium.
According to an official data, 49.61% Scheduled Castes, 33.23% Scheduled Tribes, 62.5% Backward Classes and 82.6% other castes have access to English medium schools, proving the point that members of the poorer sections of society could not afford quality education.
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‘Nadu-Nedu’
The Minister said that Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy would inaugurate the ‘Nadu-Nedu’ programme in Prakasam district on November 14, and that the programme would be implemented in 45,000-odd schools across the 13 districts of the State.
In the first phase, the focus would be on basic amenities in schools such as toilets, compound walls, drinking water, furniture, fans, blackboards, lighting and painting.