Students Islamic Organisation wants a hike in allocation for education

The Students Islamic Organisation (SIO) have sought from the Telangana government a 20% of the total budgetary outlay of the State for education, and implementing the Congress’ pre-election promise of a sub-plan for minorities.

The SIO, in their Education Budget Recommendations Telangana State Budget 2025-26, relied on the Annual Status of Education Report 2024 to underscore that an alarmingly low percentage of students from Classes III to V could read a Class II-level text. They also used data from that report to point out how ‘just 34.7%’ students could do mathematical division. The recommendations noted that this was not only an alarming gap, but also a crisis that threatens the country’s future.

While the student organisation sought a 20% budgetary allocation, the maintained that the actual spending should be increased. The SIO stated that in the recent past, Bihar had allocated 17.9% of the State budget towards education.

Also on the list of recommendations are an immediate release of reimbursement of tuition fee (RTF), popularly known as fee reimbursement, an issue which the SIO recently released data of. They reiterated that no scholarships were released in FY 2024-25.

“SIO Telangana calls for the establishment of a transparent, time-bound disbursement process aligned with the academic calendar to prevent such injustices from recurring,” an excerpt from the recommendations reads.

The organisation pointed to the Congress’ minority declaration and sought an immediate implementation of promises contained therein. The recommendations include an immediate implementation of subsidised loans to those belonging to minority communities, financial assistance of ₹5 lakh to those pursuing MPhil and PhD, and the creation of a sub-plan for minorities.

Flagging over 600 vacancies in Urdu medium teaching posts, the SIO stated this was on account of those belonging to candidates proficient in Urdu from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes remaining unavailable. The organisation recommended a transition of these posts into the open category.