Visakhapatnam: Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy bats for education revamp
Visakhapatnam: Education system needs a revamp to meet the present-day requirements and this will be a reality very soon, stated Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Participating as chief guest in Andhra University Alumni Meet 'Waves – 2019' that started off on a grand note at AU Convention Centre here on Friday, he said, "The transformation begins at school level with the launch of the 'Nadu-Nedu' (now and then) programme which aims to refurbish about 45,000 government schools in three phases. With many of them painting a picture of neglect in all parameters, Nadu-Nedu aims at revamping the entire infrastructure of the government schools at an estimated cost of Rs 12,000 crore. As part of the first phase, the work for 15,000 schools has already gained pace."
Even the higher education would witness a transformation as the CM said that the state government intends to add one more year to the existing three-year degree courses and four-year engineering courses to help provide industry exposure to the students as a part of the mandatory apprenticeship for an honours degree. "The objective is to redesign every discipline into a job-oriented course," he informed.
Defining the 93-year-old Andhra University as a pride of Andhra Pradesh, the Chief Minister said the institution has all the potential to be placed in the top five universities in the country. "It pinches me a bit that AU now stands in the 14th position at national-level. We need to relook into it and analyse what stops us from reaching the top five spot as this kind of university can actually catapult to a different league altogether and make the country proud."
Responding to the request made by the Andhra University Alumni Association (AAA), Jagan Mohan Reddy assured that the State government would extend financial assistance to the tune of Rs 50 crore wherein an equal amount would be contributed by the AAA for the development of the varsity. Further, the CM said, "As a country, we consider BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) as the yardstick for comparison. What surprises me the most is the Gross Enrolment Ratio of India that indicates 23 per cent as against Brazil-51 pe cent, Russia-80 per cent and China 48 per cent. It really pains me to note that 77 per cent of the country's children are school dropouts. This needs a serious attention."
Laying emphasis on education, Jagan said, "If there is any asset that we could pass on to the next generation, it is education only."
About changes in the education system, the CM added, "Education system will be revolutionised for the benefit of the students. There is a need to relook at our education system and check whether it is guiding the youth to pursue a career or provide a better living."
On introduction of English medium of instruction by the next academic year, the CM stated, "There will be teething problems such as equipping teachers with required training, finalising the curriculum and offering bridge courses for students. But I am pretty sure that over a period, everything will fall in place."