HYDERABAD: The Telangana Education Commission’s comprehensive policy document, Education Policy for Telangana 2026: Vision for Inclusive Excellence, unveiled by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Thursday, emphasises the establishment of the Telangana Educational Standards Authority (TESA) as the apex independent assessment body. The Commission also recommends classifying schools into categories, setting fee limits, and imposing penalties for exceeding them.

All recommendations in the policy are based on extensive consultations. The Commission held numerous meetings and deliberations with a broad range of stakeholders, including parents’ associations, mothers’ associations, private school management associations, elite school associations, non-governmental organisations, and more. Inter-state study visits were conducted to government schools in Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Karnataka, while international visits included Malaysia, Vietnam, and the United States.

Over 14 months, the Commission visited more than 305 educational institutions across all 33 districts of Telangana, including schools, junior colleges, residential educational institutions, colleges of education, degree colleges, and universities. Nine working groups, comprising experienced academicians, practitioners, and civil society members, were constituted to deliberate on various subject areas.

On education standards, TEC members highlighted the proposal to establish TESA as an independent apex assessment body to: conduct summative assessments for Classes 2–9 and 11, conduct baseline assessments for students entering higher education and end-line assessments for graduating students, grade and rank educational institutions, from schools to higher education institutions. The body would be headed by a commissioner.

The Commission also proposed dividing schools into categories based on standards, regulating fees for each category, and forming a regulatory body to oversee school fee compliance.