VIJAYAWADA: Minister for HRD and IT Nara Lokesh has asserted that his aim is to make the “Andhra Model of Education” a national benchmark with world-class teaching practices and student-centric reforms.
Holding a review meeting with DEOs and APCs at the State Secretariat on Wednesday, he said teachers are being sent abroad to study international methods, which will be implemented in AP schools. Lokesh laid emphasis on the bright future of children by ensuring 100% enrolment, and preventing child labour, while building a competitive and quality-driven public school system.
“The government is taking concrete steps to transform public education by adopting international teaching standards and introducing technology-driven reforms,” he said.
The HRD Minister said the public education system should be capable of competing with private institutions.
“If quality is not improved, children will be the ultimate sufferers. We all should work collectively to build a world-class public school education model,” he said.
Lokesh revealed that when he took over as HRD Minister, the Education Department lacked even basic data regarding the number of schools and student enrolment in the State. He urged officials to treat students of government schools as their own children while taking decisions on improvement of quality standards.
GFLN program should be implemented like a mass movement in State: Minister
Expressing concern over the presence of nearly one lakh dropout students in the State, he directed officials to pay equal attention to “never enrolled” children. Recalling his Yuva Galam Padayatra in Kurnool district, Lokesh said he had witnessed the hardship faced by migrant labourers, and stressed that no child should be forced into farm labour.
As part of the “Learning Excellence in Andhra Pradesh” initiative, he said the Guaranteed Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (GFLN) programme should be implemented like a mass movement. The government is introducing clicker technology for Class 9 students and will soon distribute Chromebooks in schools, he said. The HRD Minister also announced the implementation of the “One Class One Teacher” policy and set a target of increasing enrolment in government schools by at least 10 per cent statewide.
A star-rating system has been introduced for government schools and funds are being allocated for critical infrastructure development. Every school should have leak-proof buildings, drinking water, toilets, benches, and other requisite infrastructure, he said.
Lokesh announced that the smart kitchen system will be established across all government schools in the State within the next two years.
He revealed plans to transform the Nidamarru government school in Mangalagiri constituency into an international school. The school has already witnessed overwhelming demand for admissions because of improved facilities. He urged officials to identify and develop at least one model school in every district, and said the government wants parents to voluntarily choose government schools because of the quality of education and infrastructure available there.
Lokesh further said several administrative reforms have been introduced in the education department to ensure teachers focus solely on teaching while officials handle administration. LEAP app will be used for transparent monitoring and data management across all levels of the education system, he said.