The Telangana Education Commission has recommended some major reforms to the state government, including a three-language policy from Class 1, a push for cancelling NEET, scrapping EAPCET, merging intermediate education (class 11 and 12) with school education, gender education in secondary schools, and a legislation to prevent discrimination against students from marginalised communities and minority groups.
In its proposed Telangana Education Policy, submitted to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy on February 26, the Commission also recommends allocating at least 18% of the state budget to the education sector, of which 5% should be allocated to higher education.
It also proposes increasing the pass percentage for intermediate (Classes 11 and 12) students from 35% to 40% to improve academic standards. The policy suggests increasing the minimum pass percentage to 50% across all undergraduate programmes “on the lines of international practice.”
School reforms
The Commission has proposed that Telangana Public Schools (TPS) offer high-quality, integrated education from pre-primary through Class 12 at a single institution. The TPS model is proposed as a flagship structural reform to provide high-quality, credible education in government schools.
Members of the Commission, including chairperson Akunuri Murali, briefed CM Revanth about the policy at their meeting.
At the meeting, CM Revanth also announced that Telangana Public Schools of this model would be opened as a pilot project in 100 constituencies across the state, outside Hyderabad, from the coming academic year. These schools will be equipped with sports grounds, transport facilities, and other high-quality infrastructure.
He also announced that from the coming academic year, students in all government schools will be provided breakfast along with milk, from Classes 1 to 12.
The Commission recommended English as the medium of instruction across all levels of education from nursery to postgraduate studies. It proposed a three-language policy, with English and Telugu taught from nursery to Class 10, and either Hindi or Urdu as an option from Class 1.
The policy said that Sanskrit is usually encouraged by private schools as students can score more marks. “There is no use of Sanskrit in the society as it is spoken by less than 20000 people in the whole country. Hence Sanskrit should be discouraged in general,” it said.
The Commission has suggested stricter regulation of private schools, particularly with regard to fees, noting that some schools were charging as much as Rs 16 lakh in annual fees.
During the meeting on February 26, the Telangana Private Schools Fee Regulatory Monitoring Commission submitted its report to CM Revanth, who instructed district collectors and district education officers to conduct a visit at the district level and submit a report on fees.
At the state level, a committee with a retired judge or retired chief secretary would take final decisions on fee structure, the Chief Minister’s Office announced. The CM also suggested that the draft should be kept in the public domain to seek the opinions of students' parents, intellectuals and social workers on the fee structure.
The policy also suggests merging the different government-run residential schools for SCs, STs, BCs and minorities under a single administration.
“The existing fragmented landscape…has evidently led to the hardening of caste lines and unnecessary politicisation of educational resources. By integrating these separate entities into a singular Telangana State Residential Education Society, the state will foster a truly inclusive and equitable learning ecosystem,” the policy says.
Intermediate education
The policy proposes bringing pre-primary schools into primary schools. It also suggests merging the SSC Board, which governs education up to Class 10, and the Board of Intermediate Education, which oversees the equivalent of Classes 11 and 12 taught in junior colleges. These are currently considered separate from the school education system.
“A common board for Classes 10 and 12 will also eliminate the duplicity in terms of parallel administrative, academic, examination and data systems. Most education systems globally also have Classes 11 and 12 as part of the schooling system,” the policy says.
It also recommends scrapping the EAPCET, the state-level common entrance test for admission into undergraduate colleges in the streams of engineering, agriculture and pharmacy. Instead, the Commission recommends admissions to colleges on the basis of Intermediate Public Examinations (IPE), the present equivalent of Class 12 board exams in the state.
For this, IPE exams will have to be strengthened and designed to test foundational aspects and in-depth understanding of concepts covered in the curriculum, the policy says.
It also recommends discontinuing public exams for intermediate first year or the equivalent of Class 11, as they cause “significant stress” to students. The policy says that instead of exam preparation, during the first year, teachers must be allowed to focus on learning gaps.
Along with scrapping EAPCET, the policy says that even admissions for medical courses should be based on the Class 12 marks. “The Telangana government should strongly advocate with the Government of India for the cancellation of NEET,” it says.
It also recommends a new law to regulate private coaching centres for competitive exams such as IIT-JEE, NEET, CLAT etc., allowing oversight on fees, infrastructure, timings, faculty, curriculum, student mental health, and misleading advertisements.
“The government must regulate the fees charged for intermediate education, including fees charged for entrance exam coaching to ensure there is no profiteering,” the policy says.
Teacher education
The policy also proposes a separate cadre of teachers for teaching students of Classes 9 to 12. Junior lecturers already working in the government system for intermediate education may be considered.
It also proposes restructuring B Ed programmes into stage-specific degrees (primary and secondary).
The policy says automatic promotions for teachers and headmasters must be discontinued. Instead, it suggests promotion policies aligned with outcomes and performance, and clearing departmental exams.
At the meeting on February 26, CM Revanth also announced short-term training for teachers and lecturers on Artificial Intelligence (AI). Further, the CM asked officials to take steps to provide education on AI from the school level.
Other recommendations
The policy calls for appropriate legislation to prevent discrimination against students from marginalised communities and minority groups in educational institutions. It also advises introducing gender education from secondary grades.
“Students and faculty must be made aware of relevant laws such as the POCSO Act, the Prevention of Sexual Harassment at the Workplace Act, the Child Marriage Act, the Anti-Dowry Act, and the legal consequences of violations of these laws,” the policy says.
The policy also calls for filling up teaching vacancies in all state universities without further delay.
The policy document includes three draft legislations – the Telangana Private Schools and Junior Colleges Fee Regulatory and Monitoring Commission Draft Bill, the Telangana Public Schools (Establishment, Management and Monitoring) Draft Bill, and the Telangana Education Standards Authority Draft Bill..
Telangana Education Standards Authority (TESA) is a proposed new body which shall monitor infrastructure and academic standards in educational institutions across the state, and assign ranking to them.
