RS Praveen Kumar Criticises Telangana Education Commission Report

BRS leader and former IPS officer RS Praveen Kumar has strongly criticised the ‘Telangana Education Policy – 2026’ report recently submitted by Telangana Education Commission Chairman Aakunuri Murali to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy . He alleged that the report undermines the self-respect of teachers and would prove detrimental to poor students. He asserted that the report would be “thrown into the dustbin” once the BRS returned to power.

Speaking on the occasion, he said it was inappropriate for the Commission’s report to state that the education system had deteriorated during the 10-year tenure of former Chief Minister KCR . He criticised the report for allegedly hurting the self-respect of 1.7 lakh teachers . He maintained that the authority to determine teachers’ salaries rests with the PRC and not with the Education Commission.

He recalled that under the ‘Mana Ooru–Mana Badi’ programme, 25,000 schools were developed with an expenditure of ₹7,900 crore during the previous government’s tenure. He also noted that the expansion of Gurukuls, along with the establishment of medical and nursing colleges and sports academies, took place during KCR’s administration. He claimed that KCR was credited with granting substantial salary hikes to teachers, unprecedented in the country.

Praveen Kumar opposed the recommendation to abolish entrance examinations for engineering admissions and to grant admissions based solely on Intermediate marks, stating that it would disadvantage rural students. He expressed concern over the suggestion to discontinue fee reimbursement , saying it would adversely affect the future of poor students. He also strongly objected to the recommendation to gradually phase out Gurukuls, stating that women’s degree Gurukuls, introduced for the first time in the country, had delivered positive results.

He alleged that the proposals for public schools and integrated schools were not fully developed and accused the government of attempting to shut down anganwadi centres under the pretext of introducing pre-primary education. He further claimed that the Education Commission report appeared to be a “copy-paste” of the National Education Policy . He warned that implementing the report could push Telangana’s education system backwards and demanded that Revanth Reddy apologise to teachers.