Urdu teachers have expressed concern over the fate of their schools in the wake of the government decision to merge classes three to five in primary schools with high schools.
Members of the Riyasati Urdu Teachers’ Association (RUTA) on Thursday met to discuss their problems in view of the rapid changes being brought in the education sector.
The school merger plan and G.O. 117 on the reapportionment of teaching staff in schools being major concerns, they said they welcomed recognition of Urdu as the second official language in the State but were concerned about the implementation of G.O. 117 which might result in a raw deal to the Urdu schools and teachers.
They said neither teacher posts were sanctioned nor academic inspectors were appointed even after five years of upgrading the Urdu upper primary schools in 2016-17. They demanded that the posts be sanctioned as part of the ongoing rationalisation of teaching staff and candidates be appointed immediately.
They also urged the authorities to ensure that the Urdu primary schools were merged only with the Urdu upper primary or high schools, as there were cases of mapping Urdu schools with non-Urdu schools, and allocate only Urdu teachers in these schools. They appealed for sanction of an Urdu teacher post in Telugu/English medium schools with a large number of students belonging to the minority section.
MLC T. Kalpalatha Reddy, who attended the meeting, said the education system was being revamped to make it more effective and accessible to all sections of society. “Small problems are bound to arise while making big changes. We will overcome these issues by taking them to the notice of the government,” she said.
The MLC said the issue of Urdu schools being mapped with normal schools would be taken to the notice of the authorities concerned and assured the teachers that it would be sorted out.
