Hyderabad: Stating that there were more students in private sector schools when compared to government schools, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy asked the government teachers to check where the faults were in the system and strive for overcoming them.

Addressing the students and teachers of the Zilla Parishad High School in their 150th year celebrations at Mogiligidda in Rangareddy district on Friday, the Chief Minister said that the previous government neglected the education and this is the reason why he kept education department with him as other ministers might not prioritise this department like him. The Chief Minister said that the Congress government appointed 11,000 teachers and completed the recruitment within a record time of 55 days.

“It is painful to see that there are 30,000 government schools and only 24 lakh students whereas there are 12,500 private schools and 31 lakh students. There are no better teachers in private schools than you. Their education qualification is not even half of yours. There is some flaw somewhere. This flaw is in our system. It is our responsibility to overcome the flaws,” he said, while addressing the teachers.

The CM alleged that the previous government kept the posts of the Vice-Chancellors for 10 years and these had become rehabilitation centres, which led to Universities like Osmania and Kakatiya losing prominence. “Telangana was achieved because of the struggles and sacrifices of students of Universities like Osmania and Kakatiya. The government is ready to strengthen the Universities,” he added, and recalled about increasing the retirement age of professors from 60 to 65. Stating that spending on education was not an expenditure but an investment, Revanth Reddy said that Rs 21,000 crore (seven per cent of budget) was allocated for education. Every year, it should increase and must be ideally at 15 per cent, he pointed out. The CM also talked about the Young India Skills University having tie-up with Singapore and to soon have an MoU with Stanford University. He expressed displeasure that a country with over 100 billion population could not win a single gold in Olympics whereas a small country like South Korea had won 32 golds and one University girl won three gold medals. “We have to think – to bring out the gems from the rural areas. Along with education, sports and technical skills were also important, and they must be promoted, which will result in a good name for the district”, Revanth Reddy told the teachers.