The ongoing indefinite strike by the employees of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC), which entered 38th day on Monday, has directly hit the attendance of students studying in government schools.
The poor and lower middle-class students, who attend the government schools by travelling in the RTC buses, were unable to attend school due to non-operation of the majority of bus services in rural areas. The teachers are apprehensive that absenteeism in this crucial juncture of the academic year would have an impact in the ensuing SSC examinations.
The teachers pointed out that the RTC strike had hit the recently completed Summative Assessment (SA)-1 examinations with 20% to 30% students not attending the exam in the government as well as the model schools. Though the problem of absenteeism is a little less in the government schools in various mandals, but it is very high in the model schools which offer 10 plus 2 education.
As the majority of government high schools and model schools are located in the mandal headquarters, the students are forced to travel by the public transport utilising the bus pass facilities.
No transport
However, following the strike, the RTC had curtailed its services in the interior rural areas denying access to transportation to the school students. As the parents of the students are unable to pay for private transportation, the students stopped going to school and are working in the fields to pluck cotton and helping their parents.
Right from the begining of academic year 2019-20, the students were handicapped due to non-completion of syllabus on time. The academic year started 12 days later instead of June 1due to heatwave conditions. Now the extended Dasara vacation due to ongoing strike by the RTC employees completion of syllabus remained a distant dream for the majority of students who are forced to stay away from school.
Exam preparations
A government school headmaster said that the students coming from the interior villages to mandal headquarters for school education were suffering a lot due to RTC strike. “The teachers are coming to the school on private transport. But, the students cannot pay for the autos and are abstaining. It would have a serious impact in the SSC examinations,” he said.
Not only was the RTC operating skeletal services in the rural areas, but also the student bus passes were not being accepted on these services forcing the children to bunk school, a teacher of a model school pointed out.
