5,000 govt schools closed in AP during Chandrababu’s TDP rule: Botsa

AMARAVATI: Andhra Pradesh Education Minister Botsa Satyanarayana on Wednesday claimed in the State Assembly that over 5,000 government schools were closed down in the state during the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) regime under the chief-ministership of Chandrababu Naidu.

The Minister rebuffed the TDP members who alleged that several government schools were closed down in the state since YS Jaganmohan Reddy came to power. Countering the opposition members’ claims, Botsa Satyanarayana said that it was in fact during the previous TDP government led by Chandrababu Naidu that over 5,000 government schools were shut down between 2014-19.

After coming to power, it was YS Jagan who revived those schools as part of the YSRCP government’s schemes like ‘Nadu-Nedu’. He challenged the TDP members to show even one government school that was closed in their respective Assembly constituencies.

“Members should know that today, there are an additional 2,40,845 students enrolled in the government schools of Andhra Pradesh as compared to the number in 2018-19. Today, there are more students in government schools than in private educational institutes and the reasons for that are well-known. They (TDP members) claim that government schools have been shut down during our rule.

“The reality is, between 2014-19, when Chandrababu Naidu headed the TDP government, over 5,000 (government) schools were closed down across the state. And this happens in the years after the bifurcation of the state. This is the truth. If the members want, I’m ready to share the details of those schools shut down under the TDP rule,” the Minister said.

Satyanarayana also claimed that after YS Jaganmohan Reddy came to power in the state, about 3,000 of those 5,000 schools were reopened and that not a single school had been shut in the state under YS Jagan rule. He also challenged the opposition members to name a single government school that remains closed in their respective constituencies.