Put main focus on school education, Governor tells Govt

The lack of smooth functioning of the AP State Assembly and government's rushing through Bills in the face of Opposition's boycott seem to have incensed Governor ESL Narasimhan. What particularly riles him is the lack of discussion on education bills, precisely school education. He wants a thorough discussion on education bills. The debate on education must be carried out by involving all legislators, even if it means locking up the doors of the legislature for 4 days. The joint Governor of AP and Telangana made the introspective comments while visiting the Hyderabad Book Fair on Wednesday. If the government's education sector needed to be developed, there should be a thorough discussion on educational matters, he said. The Governor's remarks come close on the heels of YCP opposition's fear that the TDP government was going ahead alone with its privatisation of higher education to the detriment of 20 autonomous universities in the State. Narasimhan said: "No ruling party ... no Opposition ... Every year there should be discussions on public issues. Principally, the focus should be on school education. If it's found necessary, lock up the doors of the legislature and debate the matter with representatives of all political parties." The local MLA should be made responsible for the betterment of schools falling in his/her constituency. There should be annual reports on the schools functioning and progress. The government should take the reports into consideration. Only then would education sector develop, he added. Does this mean an indirect chiding of the government? Whatever the case maybe, going by the fact that many incidents have occurred in schools and colleges, the government's pushing them under the carpet comes out glaringly.