VIJAYAWADA: The State Cabinet on Tuesday gave its nod to the School Education department to exchange a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for affiliating government schools in the State with it. As per the MoU, CBSE syllabus will be implemented in all the schools in the State from the coming academic year. As many as 44,639 schools will be having CBSE curriculum from class 7 and by 2024-25, the first batch of Class X students will be passing out. The State, with a long-term objective of making children prepared for the challenges and career opportunities of the 21st Century, has observed the need for bringing in radical reforms in the present assessment system to make the children studying in the government schools compete at the national and international examinations.
After exploring various models of public examinations in the country, it is found that the CBSE has a brand stature and the State government decided to affiliate the government schools with it in a phased manner. The Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy also gave nod to the School Education department to borrow Rs 1,860 crore from the World Bank at 2.5 per cent interest rate in order to revamp the infrastructure in government schools under the Nadu-Nedu scheme and improve the skills of teachers. After the Cabinet meeting, Information and Public Relations Minister Perni Venkataramaiah said enrollment of students in government schools was increased by 6.12 lakh in 2020-21 compared to 2018-19. In order to improve quality education in aided institutions, the State Cabinet gve two options for the managements — hand over their institutes to the government without changing the name or turn them into complete private organisations by surrendering the staff for whom the government will pay the salaries.
The Cabinet gave nod for amending the AP Private University Act 2016 to fill 35 per cent of the seats in universities established under the Act under convener quota, to benefit the meritorious students from poor and middle class families. The government will extend fee reimbursement and scholarships to the students under the convener quota. The government has decided to develop an engineering college under Yogi Vemana University in Proddatur at a cost of Rs 66 crore and a degree college in Vempalli at a cost of Rs 20 crore. The Cabinet approved extension of reservations to BCs (A, B, C, D and E) for another five years in educational institutions. The BCs will get five years of maximum age relaxation in recruitment of jobs and all the benefits they are getting now will be applied till May 31, 2031.
Rythu Bharosa, insurance
The minister said that the government will credit Rs 4,050 crore into the accounts of 54 lakh farmers on May 13 under Rythu Bharosa. Apart from farmers, those cultivating RoFR land in tribal areas, tenants of endowment land are eligible for the scheme and number of beneficiaries reached 54 lakh in 2021 from 46.69 lakh in 2019-20. On May 25, YSR Free Crop insurance will be paid to the farmers who suffered crop losses in Kharif 2020, by crediting Rs 2,589 crore into the accounts of 38.30 lakh. Moreover, Rs 10,000 would be paid to each fishermen family on May 18 as compensation for the annual fishing ban. The number of beneficiary families reached above 1.34 lakh this year from 1.02 lakh in 2019 and the government will spend Rs 130.46 crore for the purpose.
Closed dairies to be leased
The Cabinet decided to lease closed cooperative dairies that are listed under AP Dairy Development Corporation to Amul. As on date, after signing an MoU with Amul, their services were operational in 708 villages. Milk will be procured through Amul across the state by March, 2022. The government sanctioned two Animal Husbandry Polytechnic Colleges in Srikakulam and Chittoor districts. The Cabinet also gave a green signal to sanction a loan of Rs 69 crore to Prakasam District Milk Producers’ Association through the AP Dairy Development Corporation.
