Revanth Reddy must withdraw his statements regarding school closures: TSEC

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s remarks on closing schools in villages and hamlets and consolidating 27,000 schools into 4,000 are deeply unfortunate, said Telangana Save Education Committee (TSEC) leader G. Haragopal on Saturday.

The presence of a government school in every village is essential for building a humane and inclusive society, he said, and demanded that Mr. Reddy immediately retract the statements.

Mr. Reddy made the remarks at The Hindu Huddle 2026 talk held in Bengaluru last week, drawing criticism from various stakeholders.

Instead, the government must allocate 20% of its budget to the education sector to develop all government schools in the State and ensure the provision of quality, equitable and free education for all, they appealed.

The demands were made on Saturday at a roundtable meeting organised by TSEC, which was attended by educators, teachers, students and representatives of civil society groups.

Speaking at the event, MLC M. Kodandaram said the government’s move to close schools was inappropriate and that the Chief Minister must reconsider his proposals, while pledging his support to TSEC in safeguarding schools.

Professor at Mahindra University M. Sridhar Acharyulu said the announcement to close 23,000 schools violated the Constitution and the Right to Education Act. He noted that the situation now demands a struggle to protect the Constitution alongside the protection of education.

At the meeting, the committee’s executive secretary, K. Lakshminarayana, announced an action plan and said that memoranda would be submitted to all public representatives in the State between June 20 and July 15. He added that roundtable meetings to discuss the concerns would be organised in every district.

Leaders from CPI(M), CPI(ML), CPI(ML) New Democracy, Arunodaya Cultural Federation, Dalit Bahujan Front, Vidyavantula Vedika, MV Foundation, State Teachers Union, United Teachers’ Federation, Telangana People’s Joint Action Committee, Telangana Progressive Teachers’ Federation, Democratic Teachers’ Federation and various student unions were present.