CCSAP Report - Ministry of Home Affairs

school and junior college level, the enrolments in Hyderabad are the second
highest next only to Rangareddy. School education in Hyderabad is dominated by
the private sector for the middle and upper middle classes, whereas the poor
depend on govt. schools 7 . In recent years, a new class of elite schools has come
up with the claim that they are “global”. While private schools in Hyderabad are
much sought after, the infrastructure in government schools is reported to be
deficient 8 , especially in the old city which is mainly populated by the Muslim
minority. Muslims have argued that their children lag behind in education and
access to jobs and that Urdu schools and Urdu teaching in the city have declined
since the merger. In order to address grievances of Muslims it is imperative that
quality of schools in the Old City area be improved.
3.6.04 The quality of government primary schools overall needs to be
improved as the poor and marginalized sections depend upon these schools and
any attempt at equalizing opportunities for them has to begin at the primary
school level.
3.7 Issues raised/Specific Cases brought out by Political/Other
Groups/Representations
In case of college/university education, specific cases of alleged discrimination
have been raised by various political parties and other groups who made oral and
written representations to the committee. The important ones are taken up for
examination in this para.
7 Ramachandraiah C. „Perpetuating the Divide and Implications for Human Development: Poor Status of Government
Schooling in Hyderabad‟ in Mahendra Dev, C. Ravi and M. Venkatanaryana (eds.) Human Development in Andhra Pradesh:
Experiences, Issues and Challenges, 2009, Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad.
8 A survey of 391 schools in the Old City in 2004 by a non-governmental organization (PUCAR-People‟s Union for Civic
Action and Rights) found that about 69 per cent of students dropped out in 2002-03; 410 teacher posts were vacant; 259
schools had no drinking water facility; 270 schools did not have electricity; 121 had no toilets; 174 were functioning in
rented buildings; 137 buildings were not in good condition; and that most of those schools had only two rooms. There
were about 68334 students in the primary and pre-primary classes in these schools. The survey further showed there was
a requirement of 460 additional classrooms in these schools. In more than 75% of schools, the student-teacher ratio
exceeded the prescribed limit (1:40) and was as high as 1:120 in some schools. All this has an adverse effect on the
quality of education and performance of students. Of the 20 high schools that recorded 0% pass in the secondary school
certificate (10 th standard) examination in May 2006, six were in Hyderabad city (5 in old city). (Source: Ibid.: p. 366)
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