HYDERABAD:Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu has asked the education department to explore options of introducing common exam system for classes 3, 5 and 8. According to a release issued by the CMO on Tuesday, Naidu said the common exams will improve literacy levels of the students.
Education department officials informed him that 25-30 per cent of 8th standard students were not able to read and write language books of classes 3 and 5.
“Another worrying finding is that over 50 per cent of students are unable to do simple arithmetic,” they said. Naidu asked the education department to make ‘School Days’ mandatory as part of the government’s curriculum in schools.
“These ‘School Days’ should be celebrated with the involvement of parents. A higher official should take the initiative of inviting parents to the School Day and awareness has to be created on this front,” he said.
Stating that there should be an overhaul of the education system in the state, Naidu said AP’s Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in primary education puts it at 29th spot in the country, in upper primary education at 34th spot and in secondary education at 33rd spot.
Despite having 41.52 lakh students in over 46,000 government schools in the State, AP ranks 30th in literacy rate in the country, Naidu said.
Interestingly, in dropout rate, AP fares better compared to other states. In primary education, AP stands at 12th position, in upper primary at 13th position and in secondary education at 2nd position. Stating that his government has set a target to bring down dropout rates to 0.67% by 2017, Naidu directed the department to work towards ensuring 100 per cent literacy in the state.
‘Rejuvenate Education System’
Meanwhile, the chief minister suggested that a committee with department officials, teachers and education experts be formed to rejuvenate the education system, brainstorm and come up with innovative ideas to provide kids with best education. “There could be model schools, libraries in PPP mode, overhaul of curriculum, introduce bio-metric system of attendance and data recording for teachers, students, set up an online feedback system from parents and several other ideas,” Naidu said.
“The education department should have continuous discussions with teachers and involve them in the decision-making process. This will make the system inclusive and motivate teachers,” Naidu pointed out. He said basic education indices should be developed for the State after verifying data from surveys.