Minister Calls on Village Leaders to Boost Enrolment in Government Schools

Hyderabad: Telangana's Transport and BC Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar has called on Sarpanches and local administrators to revitalise government schools and drive up student enrolment at an education workshop held in Husnabad.

The event, held at Vaishya Bhavan, was organised as part of the 99-day action plan under the Praja Palana Pragathi Pranalika initiative and concurrent Education Week celebrations. Prabhakar, who attended as the chief guest, addressed representatives from the mandals of Husnabad, Akkannapet, Koheda and Bejjanki.

The Minister emphasised that while demand for government employment and welfare benefits remained high, interest in public education and healthcare institutions was waning. He pressed village leaders to play a pivotal role in community development and student recruitment campaigns.

Prabhakar recommended that local officials discourage private school buses from operating in villages and implement door-to-door enrolment initiatives under the "Badi Bata" scheme to ensure every child attends school. He also stressed the importance of preventing student dropouts and raising parent awareness about the quality of government education.

Meetings have recently been conducted across seven mandals, with five-member committees established to improve school infrastructure and boost enrolment numbers. The Minister urged Sarpanches from Bejjanki to visit the Urban Forest Park and Ellamma Cheruvu in Husnabad to assess ongoing development projects.

Reflecting on his earlier tenure as Member of Parliament, Prabhakar highlighted his role in bringing the Satavahana University Engineering College to Husnabad and establishing 29 Model Schools and Kasturba Schools across 31 mandals. He underscored that educational institutions are fundamental to shaping future generations.

The Minister announced several new infrastructure projects, including an Integrated Residential School under construction at Thangalapalli near Koheda with an outlay of Rs. 200 crore, alongside a 250-bed hospital facility. He also indicated plans to open a branch of Basara Triple IT at Elkathurthi.

Prabhakar called on local leaders to regularly attend Parents-Teachers Meetings and monitor school conditions, sports programmes and facilities. He noted that while government colleges deliver quality education, many families were investing substantial sums in private institutions like Narayana and Sri Chaitanya. He appealed to administrators to strengthen public schools, arguing that enhanced enrolment would particularly benefit economically disadvantaged students.

The workshop included recognition of outstanding students from Government Junior Colleges, Social Welfare Schools, Model Schools, Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Residential Schools and Akkannapet Tribal Schools within the Husnabad constituency.

The event was attended by Municipal Chairperson Dandi Lakshmi, Vice Chairperson Chittari Padma, District Education Officer Srinivas Reddy, Revenue Divisional Officer Rammurthy, Mandal Education Officers, Sarpanches from the four mandals and government school principals.