Hyderabad: In Telangana, confusion surrounds the education sector, which is supposed to be managed by the Telangana Education Commission (TEGC) and the Telangana Education Department (TEGD). These two bodies are experiencing a power struggle, leading to delays in decision-making.
The TGEC believes it should recommend policies from early childhood to higher education. However, the TGED seems uninterested in the TGEC’s recommendations. A senior TGED official mentioned that the TGEC is overstepping its boundaries by interfering in departmental matters.
The TGED attends meetings like Samagra Shiksha with the Union Education Ministry and manages higher education, including the Board of Intermediate Education (BIE) and universities. It deals with funding and policies from the state and national bodies like the University Grants Commission, Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). Meanwhile, the TGEC organizes seminars and workshops, claiming to base policies on expert opinions without addressing these significant issues.
The TGEC holds public hearings to gather stakeholder views for its policy suggestions. However, TGED sources indicate that the TGEC has submitted seven policy recommendations to the state government, but none have been implemented. For instance, the proposal for legislation on private unaided schools and junior colleges was shelved due to potential legal challenges regarding fee-fixing.
The TGEC criticized the state government for insufficient education funding in the 2025-26 budget compared to global standards. Its proposal to reserve 25% of seats for underprivileged students under the Right to Education Act and to extend mid-day meals to junior colleges are seen as financially burdensome for the state government.
Recent developments reveal that TGED officials have skipped TGEC meetings in protest of its operations. Efforts to involve state university vice-chancellors in TGEC workshops and seminars received a poor response, as they found it difficult to understand the TGEC's activities.
