TPF Vidya Bus Yatra Reaches Final Leg At Gabbilalpet Government School

The Telangana People’s Front’s 12-day Vidya Bus Yatra reached Gabbilalpet Government School on Saturday, marking the final leg of a campaign that began on September 15 and travelled through various districts to raise concerns facing the education sector.

The bus arrived at the primary school in Gabbilalpet, Jawaharnagar, Medchal-Malkajgiri, where the TPF team interacted with parents of students as part of the programme.

The team also held a badi nidra at the school on Saturday night, continuing the outreach around public education issues.

A government school secured after a long struggle

The Gabbilalpet primary school operates from rented premises, underlining the infrastructure concerns around the institution.

The school was secured through the sustained struggle of parents over the past four years, according to the source material.

It is the only government school serving the area’s population of around 50,000.

That context shaped the discussions held during the final leg of the yatra, as parents, students, activists and civil society groups focused on the condition of school education in the area.

On Sunday, TPF held a round-table discussion with students, activists and NGOs on the state of school education.

Participants called for targeted measures to strengthen public education and regulate the rising costs of private education.

‘Children must not grow up feeling like second-class citizens’

Kavya, a first-generation learner from Jawaharnagar who completed her schooling at a ZPHS school, said children in the basti “must not grow up feeling like second-class citizens”.

TPF member M.V. Reddy said education enables individuals to reach high positions in society.

He also said the All-India Services were not necessarily limited to candidates from elite backgrounds.

On the demand for land for a Telangana Public School in Gabbilalpet, M.V. Reddy said a negotiated solution must be found.

TPF member Champalal said education and healthcare were essential needs.

He termed it shameful that citizens continued to struggle for basic education 80 years after Independence.

Champalal cited Telangana Public School, Arutla, as an example of how government schools could provide full facilities and create opportunities for first-generation learners.

Calls for revival and stronger regulation

MV Foundation’s Venkat Reddy said the proliferation of private schools was enabled by successive governments without adequate standards or regulation.

The concern over private schools was also reflected in the round-table discussion, where participants sought regulation of rising private education costs along with steps to strengthen public education.

According to TPF leader and former Telangana Education Commission chairperson Akunuri Murali, school education is in a dire need of revival.

Murali said an additional allocation of ₹ 6,000 crore annually for five years would be a small portion of Telangana’s ₹ 3.24 lakh crore annual budget.

He also called for a groundswell of demand from parents.

The Vidya Bus Yatra’s concluding stop at Gabbilalpet brought together the issues raised during the campaign: the lack of adequate public school infrastructure, the dependence on sustained parent mobilisation, the burden of private education costs, and the demand for stronger public investment in schooling.

The report was published on September 27, 2026, at 10:17 pm IST.

Source: The Hindu