Intellectuals write open letter to Revanth, demand withdrawal of school consolidation plan

A chorus of protest from over 100 prominent educationists, intellectuals, poets, and civil society leaders rose here on Tuesday, demanding the immediate withdrawal of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s reported proposal to merge 27,000 government schools into 4,000 institutions.

The move would push rural children away from education and weaken the public schooling system, they said.

In an open letter to Mr. Reddy, endorsed by 125 people from various walks, the group strongly opposed the proposed closure. Mr. Reddy had first made the statements about his government’s plans to restructure government schools on the grounds of declining student enrolment, at The Hindu Huddle in Bengaluru last month.

Speaking at the gathering, Justice Chandrakumar questioned the basis for the school closure proposal and asked whether a proper scientific study had been conducted to identify why student enrolment was declining.

Economist D. Narasimha Reddy, while accusing the government of going back on its electoral commitments, recalled that the manifesto had promised allocating 15% of the budget to education and reopening 6,000 schools closed during the previous government’s tenure. Instead, the government allocated only 8.2% of the budget to education and moved towards closing thousands of schools, he said.

Telangana Save Education Committee leader G. Haragopal said the announcement had shocked civil society and stressed that schools were not merely buildings, but institutions closely tied to village life. Acclaimed poet Nandini Sidhareddy also termed the proposal a “shameful act” and called upon people to launch a movement to safeguard government schools.

For the legal minds at the event, the proposal is a violation of the spirit of the Right to Education Act. The government’s unilateral decision without public consultation, they said, indicates poor decision-making ability.

Other speakers also criticised the government for failing to regulate private schools and weakening public education despite Telangana’s strong financial position. Representatives from teachers’ unions, student organisations, and education forums also advocated for strengthening government schools, instead of closing them.

They demanded that the government abandon the consolidation plan and instead focus on improving infrastructure, recruiting teachers, introducing pre-primary classes in all government primary schools, and protecting public education from increasing privatisation and corporatisation.