Telugu states need an improved growth in education sector
As per a report released during World Telugu Conference in January, both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have emerged as leading, high-growth states in India 10 years after bifurcation and have been classified as “front runners” in sustainability and development. Telangana has excelled in IT, pharmaceuticals, and services with a strong revenue surplus, while Andhra Pradesh has become a leader in agriculture, fisheries, and industrial investment. Educationally, the two states, however, have nothing much to boast of, if the latest QS World University Rankings are pointers. The QS rankings look at more than 21,000 academic programmes from over 1,900 universities in more than 100 countries.
They check academic reputation, employer views, research work and global connections. While IIT Hyderabad has moved up more than 100 places since last year, the University of Hyderabad (UoH) has also shown strong results in seven specific subjects. In Andhra Pradesh, however, things are not that impressive. No major institution from the state has made it to the top 50. Even new institutes established in the residuary state have not made big waves in the QS subject rankings.
According to a report by Dr Bhaskar Nath Biswal, a former principal and a keen observer of the education sector in India, IIT Tirupati and state universities such as Andhra University or Sri Venkateswara University have not made big waves in the QS subject rankings. In earlier Asia-level lists, Andhra Pradesh colleges often stayed outside the top 500. This shows that while the country is moving forward, these two southern states are not keeping equal pace. One pointer in this regard is that the states face challenges with literacy rate disparities (Andhra Pradesh reported 66.4 per cent in 2025) and ensuring consistent learning outcomes in rural areas.
Notably, the problem seems to be in focus for the governments in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and hopefully, progress levels may spike in the decades to come. Available stats in public domain on the web says that as of 2023-24, 34 per cent of Indian students in the US are from Telangana and 22 per cent from Andhra Pradesh, reflecting a strong focus on higher education and STEM fields. Telangana’s Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education is 40 per cent, significantly higher than the 28.5 per cent national average.
Meanwhile, both Telugu-speaking States are focusing on digital integration, with Degree Online Services Telangana (DOST) simplifying higher education access and establishment of Telangana Education Commission to improve teaching methods. Reports show a shift toward better education quality, with 92 per cent of students aged 15-17 in school, 10 percentage points higher than the national average. Telangana has implemented initiatives like Mana Ooru Mana Badi to upgrade school infrastructure and digital classrooms.
Andhra Pradesh is working toward universalizing secondary education and meeting NEP 2030 goals. It is evident that both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have demonstrated a strong, recent commitment to improving educational access and quality, with a particular emphasis on fostering higher education and technical skills. At the macro level, universal secondary education in India faces significant delays, with complete enrollment expected only by 2038. The 2015 target for universal secondary education was not met; 2020 goals emphasize retention and learning mastery. Continuing areas of concern in the two States are notable gaps in gender and socio-economic status affecting education.
