Tirupati: HEPB to coordinate Central, State institutions

Tirupati: In a bid to boost the higher education standards, the state government has constituted AP State Higher Education Planning Board (HEPB). The first meeting of the board was held at IIT, Tirupati on Saturday which was attended by minister for education Audimulapu Suresh, AP State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE) chairman Prof K Hemachandra Reddy, IIT Tirupati director Prof K Satyanarayana and others.

Addressing the media before the meeting, the minister said that it was observed that a coordination was lacking between central universities and institutes functioning in the state and state universities.

In order to bridge this gap, Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy mooted the idea of setting up of a planning board which will facilitate the exchange of resources, ideas, faculty, research activities etc., between central and state institutes and universities.

This was part of the reforms introduced by the government in higher education and it will help the state and students as well by increasing the higher education standards through the exchange of knowledge. All the participants in the meeting will discuss the modalities of the required coordination and give their suggestions and ideas, he said.

The minister said that this Higher Education Planning Board will meet at least twice a year to take stock of things. In the first meeting, Vice-Chancellors or directors from 37 universities and institutes of both central and state governments in the state have been taking part.

He added that 10 months internship programme will be implemented for degree students soon. Degree college admissions were held by following the rule of reservation which will be implemented to Intermediate education also from next academic year. Skill university will be coming up in Tirupati and skill development centres will be set up in every parliamentary constituency.

The beneficiaries of Amma Vodi can opt for a laptop in one year and get a latest higher configuration laptop. This will be useful for them in taking online classes and for other purposes. The government is planning to provide uninterrupted network connectivity for the benefit of students, he said.

Later, during the meeting of the planning board special chief secretary for Higher Education Satish Chandra said that the planning board objective was to foster qualitative and inclusive growth of higher education in the state.

The chairman of APSCHE Prof K Hemachandra Reddy said that the main functions of the board are to suggest the ways to promote institutional research projects, credits transfer, share the best practices in the higher education system and develop the ecosystem of harmonious relationships among the state and central institutions.

IIT Tirupati director Prof Satyanarayana had given a brief outline on the progress of the Institute in terms of academic and infrastructure during the last six years. Following this the session on Promotion of Institutional cooperation and enhancing the quality standards of Higher Education in the light of NEP 2020 was conducted.