‘Budget allocation for education must be increased to 15%’

Expressing concern over the allocation of just 8.2% of the Budget to the education sector, the Telangana Save Education Committee has urged the State government to take up a discussion on education priorities in the ongoing Assembly session and increase the allocation to at least 15%.

Committee leaders K. Chakradhar Rao, G. Haragopal and K. Lakshmi Narayana said the current allocation falls well short of the 20% demanded by the committee as well as various student, teacher and lecturer unions, to strengthen the government education system.

The committee also questioned the government’s commitment, pointing out that while it announced plans to expand pre-primary education to 2,500 schools, no funds have been allocated for the initiative. It further noted that the Budget fails to address key issues such as poor infrastructure in government schools, a severe shortage of teachers and the lack of teacher training for pre-primary educators.

In the higher education sector, the committee termed the allocations grossly inadequate. It highlighted that Kakatiya University was allotted ₹40 crore, Mahatma Gandhi University and Palamuru University ₹35 crore each, and Telangana University ₹25 crore — far below the ₹500 crore per university deemed necessary for overall development.

The committee also noted that of the ₹617 crore allocated for higher education development in 2024-25, only ₹46 crore, or less than 7%, has been spent. It urged the government to discuss the priorities of school, university, and technical education in the Assembly and increase the allocation to at least 15%.