VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday reiterated the government’s focus on equipping students to tap career opportunities that will further uplift their families.
He was dedicating to the State 15,715 school revamped at a cost of Rs 3,669 crore in the first phase of the Nadu-Nedu scheme.
He also launched the distribution of Jagananna Vidya Kanuka kits to school students at the SPZPP High School in P Gannavaram, East Godavari, on Monday.
The Vidya Kanuka kits, comprising books, school uniforms and accessories, will be distributed among 47,32,064 students in the second edition of the programme.Addressing the students and teachers, Reddy said, besides dedicating the revamped schools and distributing the kits, he was reopening schools, adhering to Covid-19 protocols. Schools in Andhra Pradesh reopened on Monday after several months of Covid-induced shutdown. “The schools have to be reopened considering the children’s future”, the Chief Minister said. The government has issued a standard operating procedure for reopening the schools.
Reddy reiterated the government’s priority in ensuring a better future for the children. “In the next five-10 years, all these students will graduate, look for good jobs and better salaries to better their families’ financial status and the steps initiated by the government today will ensure that they get better job opportunities,” he said.
The government has spent Rs 1,380 crore for distributing “quality” Jagananna Vidya Kanuka kits--which Reddy termed “a gift to children from their uncle”--in the current academic year. The government will revamp 16,368 schools in the the second phase of Nadu-Nedu at a cost of Rs 4,535 crore. The Chief Minister said about 57,0000-odd schools will be modernised at an expenditure of Rs 16,000 crore.
The overall admissions in schools across the State increased to 73.05 lakh students from earlier 70.43 lakh over the past two years. The number of enrolments in government schools also increased to 43.43 lakh from 37.20 lakh in 2018-19. Listing out various schemes, the Chief Minister said his government had spent Rs 32,714 crore in the past two years for the betterment of the education sector.
Further, the Chief Minister said that from the current academic onwards, all the schools will be categorised into six types, in tune with the National Educational Policy, and schools offering classes to students in various grades will be established in villages. “Qualified teachers will be made available in the schools. Even single-teacher schools will be transformed, and different subjects will be taught by different teachers,” he explained, adding that proper systematic education is the biggest asset being given to the children by the government.