Telangana CM announces annual foreign study tours for government school teachers

Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Thursday announced that the State government would sponsor annual foreign study tours for government school teachers, enabling them to upgrade their skills and learn about best practices in education. The initiative would be similar to the official overseas training programmes undertaken by All India Services (AIS) officers.

The All India Services, which include the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the Indian Forest Service (IFoS), have a structured training system that sends officers to foreign institutions to study governance and public administration. By extending this idea to school teachers, the State government aims to expose educators to international pedagogical methods and classroom practices.

Mr. Reddy, who also holds the Education portfolio, made the announcement while addressing a group of government school teachers at the Dr. MCR Human Resource Development Institute in Hyderabad. The teachers had recently returned from a study tour to Finland and Germany, two countries known for their high-performing school systems. The institute, named after former Chief Minister Marri Chenna Reddy, is a key training facility for government employees in Telangana.

"From now on, we will provide teachers with opportunities to go abroad for further studies. Plans should be prepared to ensure the government bears the costs required for quality education," Mr. Reddy said on Thursday, July 30, 2026.

The Chief Minister said the government's focus on education was driven by the objective of providing quality education to children from poor families rather than political considerations. Calling upon teachers and education department officials to strengthen the public education system, he urged them to carry forward the government's education mission. He also assured them that the government was ready to address their grievances.

Mr. Reddy directed officials to prepare, by December, a comprehensive action plan for the next academic year by treating each mandal as an education cluster. A mandal is an administrative unit used in Telangana and some other Indian states, typically comprising a group of villages. He stressed that education, coupled with discipline, was essential for students to succeed in life.

The Chief Minister stated that the State spent about ₹1.08 lakh annually on each student in government schools. In comparison, parents of children studying in private schools spend around ₹50,000 a year. He said there was a need to introspect on why parents continued to prefer private schools, while describing the enrolment of an additional one lakh students in government schools during the current academic year as a significant achievement.

Mr. Reddy also rejected the Opposition's demand that he relinquish the Education portfolio, asserting that the government had introduced several measures to strengthen the school education sector.

Highlighting the government's vision for educational reforms, Mr. Reddy said English alone was not the benchmark for progress, pointing out that countries such as China had emerged as global powers despite different linguistic backgrounds. He said students should also look towards countries like Germany, Japan and Singapore, where significant educational and employment opportunities existed.

The annual foreign study tours for teachers, according to the Chief Minister, are part of a broader effort to improve the quality of government schools. The State government has been focussing on increasing enrolment and retaining students in public education, and the new initiative is intended to support teachers in delivering better outcomes.