Education sector in crisis under coalition govt

Tadepalli, July 25:  The education sector has plunged into a severe crisis under the coalition government led by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Education Minister Nara Lokesh, according to former minister and YSRCP leader Sake Sailajanath. 
Addressing the media at the YSRCP central office in Tadepalli, Sailajanath criticised  that minister Nara Lokesh neglecting students’ futures, mismanaging funds, and prioritizing corporate interests over public welfare. “This government has no sense of responsibility toward children’s education. Chandrababu has turned the education sector into a business, with the sole aim of funneling profits to corporate institutions,” Sailajanath asserted.
The former minister highlighted the government’s failure to clear pending fee reimbursement dues, which have left students in distress. He revealed that approximately Rs. 4,200 crore in fee reimbursement arrears for six quarters and Rs. 2,200 crore in hostel fee (Vasathi Deevena) dues for two years remain unpaid, totaling Rs. 6,400 crore. 
Minister Nara Lokeshmaking false promises, citing contradictory statements made on X. On October 22, 2024, Lokesh claimed Rs. 3,500 crore in pending dues from the previous YSRCP government would be cleared soon. However, on March 22, 2025, he revised the figure to Rs. 4,271 crore, stating that Rs. 788 crore had been paid and an additional Rs. 600 crore released, with Rs. 400 crore more to follow. “Not a single rupee has been paid toward these dues,” Sailajanath declared, labelling Lokesh’s claims as blatant lies.
Sailajanath contrasted the coalition’s inaction with the YSRCP government’s record, noting that during 2014-19, the TDP government left Rs. 1,778 crore in fee reimbursement dues for 16.73 lakh students, which the subsequent YSRCP government cleared. Under YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s leadership, Rs. 18,663 crore was spent on higher education, and Rs. 4,275 crore was allocated for Vasathi Deevena. “The fee reimbursement scheme, introduced by the late Dr. YS Rajasekhara Reddy, sparked an educational revolution, enabling countless poor students to pursue higher education like engineering and medicine. Under YS Jagan, the government stood by students, but the coalition has completely neglected them,” he said.
The coalition government conspiring to reduce beneficiaries through policies like the local/non-local classification, which he called absurd. “Requiring students to study here continuously from Class 9 to Intermediate to qualify as locals is irrational. Students born and raised here but studying elsewhere for Intermediate are unfairly deemed non-locals,” he said. Sailajanath further criticized the government’s handling of the Talliki Vandanam scheme, stating that it deceived 32 lakh beneficiaries. “The government promised Rs. 15,000 per student in its election manifesto but reduced it to Rs. 13,000, with many mothers receiving only Rs. 8,000 or Rs. 9,000,” he said, citing Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) data showing Rs. 13,112.82 crore in pending education dues last year.
The coalition’s policies favor private educational institutions linked to its leaders, sidelining marginalized communities like Dalits and minorities. “Chandrababu and Lokesh cannot tolerate the progress of poor students or their ability to speak English,” he charged. He also criticized the Chief Minister’s planned Singapore trip to visit his “partner” Eshwaran in jail, accompanied by Ministers Lokesh, Narayana, and TG Bharat, while students suffer harassment from private institutions over unpaid fees, forcing many to abandon their education.