Telangana education commission head resigns

Hyderabad: Retired IAS officer Akunuri Murali has resigned as chairperson of the Telangana Education Commission (TEC) four months before the end of his term. He had taken charge of TEC in Sept 2024.

In a letter dated May 22, addressed to the chief secretary, Murali stated that since the task of submitting a comprehensive report on education reforms, with recommendations, had been completed, he was resigning from the post.

While Murali could not be reached for a comment, sources claimed he was keen on the state govt implementing major recommendations, particularly school fee regulation, of his report. While the TEC had recommended that the school fee be hiked 10% to 15% once in three years, the govt is yet to enforce the rule. Schools, in the meantime, continue to arbitrarily hike their fee every year — ranging anywhere from 20% to 50%.

Some of the TEC recommendations include merger of SSC and Intermediate boards and running schools from KG to Class 12 instead of separate junior college. Also suggested were increasing minimum pass marks from 35 to 45 and reducing the salary of teachers of underperforming schools. The govt has referred the commission’s report to govt advisor K Keshava Rao-led committee.

Murali has over four decades of experience in government administration. He served as district collector and Magistrate of Bhupalpally district in Telangana and also held key positions including Director General of Telangana State Archives, managing director and vice-chairman of Telangana Seed Development Corporation, and chief executive officer of the Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP).