The State government has decided to continue providing transportation facilities for school going children residing in habitations without schools during the current academic year.
The decision has been taken to implement the provisions under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 and the Telangana Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules of 2010. It has been accordingly decided to provide transportation to 21,964 students of 2,243 habitations in the State which are without schools.
After field-level assessment made by the Education Department, 21,964 students were identified as eligible for availing of the free transport facility in different districts of the State. Of these, 17,738 are studying in the upper primary schools and the remaining 4,226 in primary schools.
The government has decided to bear the cost incurred on transporting these students to their schools from their habitations at a cost of ₹6,000 each for the entire year. The expenditure that would be incurred on this count is estimated to be around ₹13.17 crore for the year. According to the study, Bhadradri-Kothagudem district has the highest number of school-less habitations at 231 followed by Siddipet district with 190. Khammam district with 144 school-less habitations, Suryapet with 117 and Mahbubabad with 115 are among the other districts with high number of school-less habitations.