VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has directed the officials of Higher Education department to fill the vacant teaching staff posts in all the Universities without bias and maintaining a standard benchmark. “Permission for filling vacant teaching posts has been given. If there are no teaching staff, what is the use of having a university? If there is no quality, there is no meaning in recruitment of teaching staff,” he said emphasising on quality and standards.
Stating that there is a need for changes in curriculum, he said that only then the high standards of education could be imparted to the children. He wanted the Universities to suggest the best practices to be followed for the efficient functioning of Village, Ward Secretariats, RBKs and Village Clinics along with bringing transparency in Sub-Registrar and Town Planning Departments. He asked them to record the best classes in universities and upload them online for the benefit of students.
He called upon vice-chancellors of various universities in the state to bring innovative changes to increase the quality of education. Asserting that education is the only asset that can be given to the children, he stressed on the need to upgrade the curriculum with special focus on job creation.
He stated that certified courses should also be part of the curriculum and told the authorities to provide textbooks in English and Telugu. He said that integrated training should be given by organisations like Microsoft, to improve the job opportunities, where the student must be able to get a placement before leaving the university. There should be a compulsory apprenticeship and the government is also bringing a Skill Development Centre in every constituency.
Ranking of colleges
Jagan directed the authorities to aim for achieving 70 per cent GER ratio by 2025 and exuded confidence that it can be achieved with the implementation of schemes like Vidya Deevena and Vasati Deevena. “All the universities should be upgraded to national standards,” he said.
The Chief Minister instructed the authorities to focus on maintaining standards in the colleges. He said not to compromise on colleges that do not meet the standards. If any colleges are not up to the standard, bring the identified issues to the management’s attention and give them time to improve, he said and ordered the officials not to give permissions to those institutions that do not follow standards.
He said that an action plan for the development of the universities should be designed for the next three years, upgrading the NAAC rating. Also, he directed the officials to prepare an action plan for degree colleges across the State, ensuring that each assembly constituency has one degree college.