Hanumakonda: Education in government schools is being provided on a par with private schools, said Panchayat Raj Minister Dhanasari Anasuya Seethakka at Madhavaraopalli in Mulugu district on Monday.

She inaugurated new classrooms and laboratories of the Kasturba Gandhi Girls’ School, built at a cost of Rs 2.3 crore. District collector Divakar TS, market committee chairperson Rega Kalyani, and district Grandhalaya Samstha chairperson Banothu Ravichandra were also present.

Seethakka said the government established Kasturba Gandhi Residential Schools to encourage girls to pursue higher education; is providing all necessary facilities for them. She appealed to every girl to aim for higher studies.

She explained that in the past, under traditional beliefs, girls were restricted to the kitchen with the notion that education was unnecessary for them, but today, women are excelling in every field.

She recalled that Savitribai Phule, wife of Jyotirao Phule, was the first woman teacher in India and that since then, women continued to play a vital role in education. The schools were named after Mahatma Gandhi’s wife, Kasturba, with the intent of providing exclusive education for girls.

She emphasised that what truly matters was not how much one learns, but how much of that knowledge is shared with others.

Seethakka mentioned that she herself studied in a government hostel and advised students to keep their school surroundings clean. She reiterated that government schools are now offering education comparable to private institutions.

She urged students and teachers to strive for the district to achieve the first rank in State in the upcoming 10th-grade examinations.

The collector said teachers should care for girl students as they would for their own children while providing quality education.