VISAKHAPATNAM: The State government will assess the performance of all 15 universities in Andhra Pradesh every six months and support them for infrastructure development along with promotions and increments to the staff as per the performance report submitted by each university.
A decision to this effect was taken during the first meeting of the vice-chancellors of 15 state universities held at Andhra University here Saturday and the issues will be taken up for approval in the next Cabinet meeting.
Minister for Human Resource Development Ganta Srinivasa Rao said that the State government was focussing on quality and knowledge-based education in the state. He said that the vice-chancellors’ meeting was held to identify core issues of each university and their expectations for improving standards of higher education.
During the discussions, it was found that all universities were facing a major problem of lack of faculty and the vice-chancellors unanimously pressed for filling up of all vacant faculty posts immediately apart from providing necessary block grants from the State government for strengthening the higher education standards in the state. The minister promised to fill the vacancies at the earliest and announced that the government was contemplating to release the DSC notification for filling up of teacher posts on September 5.
With placements becoming the need of the hour, Srinivasa Rao has asked the officials to devise a system where the State government would tie up with companies to get the students recruited. Skill development courses, encouraging extra-curricular activities, preparation and implementation of academic calendars, conducting e-classes were other major suggestions from the universities to be taken up in the near future, he added.
To a question on fee reimbursement, the minister said the issue would be taken up with his Telangana counterpart. “If required, the government will not hesitate to take legal course for the benefit of students. The TRS government should stop resorting to political vendetta and act as per the Presidential Order,” he said.
Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE) chairman L Venugopal Reddy, vice-chairman P Vijaya Prakash, principal secretary for secondary and higher education Neelam Sahani, commissioner of collegiate education K Sunitha, AU vice-chancellor GSN Raju and others were present.