Recently, renowned educationist of Telangana, Chukka Ramaiah, instrumental in sending hundreds of students to the IIT's over the decades made an interesting statement.
Ramaiah felt that only students who pass out of government schools must be recruited into government jobs.
His logic was that students from such schools are better equipped to deal with social issues as they are socially aware and are more socially responsible than students who go to private schools.
But in practice, this advice might not be feasible because of the huge difference in standards between government schools and private schools.
The 10th annual status of education report, released recently paints a dismal picture of government schools across the country.
One of the highlights in the report was that if 59% of class 5 students in government schools could read class 2 texts in 2006, only 39% could do so in 2014.
From the absence of quality teachers to the all-promotion policy in government schools initiated to curtail the high drop- out rate, the problems plaguing government schools are plenty.
One-fourth of the students in rural areas are taking private tuitions and in many cases, the tutors are not even matriculates. All these problems exist in an even more acute form in Telangana.
Unless the standards of government schools in Telangana are brought to a decent and acceptable standard, it would not make sense to give government jobs to only those who have studied at government schools. These reforms can take the better part of a decade and that too, only under a visionary and efficient Chief Minister rather than a populist one.
