Govt To Provide Free School Transport To 17000 Students In Telangana

Hyderabad: Aiming to provide education to all, the Telangana government has decided to offer free transport for the students who are living in the localities which have no schools.

The facility is offered to 17,619 students under Right to Education Act, 2009. Over 1,404 localities in the cities and towns have no schools. The GO was issued on Monday by special chief secretary to the government, Ranjeeva Acharya. The GO stated that the government will spend Rs5.28 crore to provide transportation in autos and vans to 4,304 primary students and 13,315 upper primary students.

A survey was conducted by the government before issuing the orders. It was found that over 1,404 areas in the state, 385 did not have primary schools and 1,035 did not have any upper primary school. According to the survey, Jayashankar, Khammam, Mahabubabad, Bhadradri districts had most number of habitations without primary schools. Khammam, Mahabubabad and Bhadradri districts had highest number of habitations without upper primary schools. It was also found that the dropout rate among students was high due to lack of transport facility.

The government also decided to close down the schools with enrollment below 10 students after announcing its decision to provide free transportation.