Andhra Pradesh Dalit Mahasabha founder secretary Katti Padma Rao on May 29 (Wednesday) appealed to the School Education Department to initiate measures to ensure that the students passing the SSC examinations from government schools are enrolled in the government-run junior colleges.
In a letter addressed to School Education Principal Secretary Praveen Prakash, Mr. Padma Rao said that corporate institutions were engaging their teaching staff to motivate parents to enrol their children in their colleges. “These corporate institutions collect exorbitant fees and run classrooms in places that are more like dungeons. The government should intervene and ensure that more students are enrolled in State-run institutions,” he said.
Mr. Padma Rao demanded action against the corporate colleges for their ‘fraudulent’ style of functioning. He mooted the constitution of a committee on government education and said its members should spread awareness about government schemes, scholarships, free education and hostel facility.
Highlighting the high dropout rate among girls, especially those from the SC, ST and OBC communities, he suggested separate coaching centres (Savithri Bai Phule coaching centre) for girls who fail in the SSC examinations.
Mr. Padma Rao’s other demands included increasing the number of A.P. residential schools, provision of shared lockers and storage boxes for children from economically backward sections and inclusion of other essential items in the kits given to students.
