Andhra Pradesh gets a pat for reforms in education sector

The slew of reforms ushered in by the State government in the education sector was appreciated by senior officials of the Central Ministry of Education at a review meeting held on Wednesday night. The officials had words of praise for schemes like ‘Jagananna Amma Vodi’, ‘Jagananna Vidya Kanuka’, Toilet Maintenance Fund and other initiatives launched to upscale facilities and improve standards of education.

The slew of reforms ushered in by the State government in the education sector was appreciated by senior officials of the Central Ministry of Education at a review meeting held on Wednesday night.

The officials had words of praise for schemes like ‘Jagananna Amma Vodi’, ‘Jagananna Vidya Kanuka’, Toilet Maintenance Fund and other initiatives launched to upscale facilities and improve standards of education.

A statement by the Samagra Shiksha on Thursday said a review meeting by the Project Approval Board (PAB) under the chairmanship of the Secretary of Central Ministry of Education Sanjay Kumar held on the Annual Work Plan discussed the allocation of the required funds for the next academic year 2023-24.

Principal Secretary, School Education, Praveen Prakash, represented the State while Commissioner, School Education and State Director of Samagra Shiksha S. Suresh Kumar and officials of the Andhra Pradesh State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) also attended the meeting.

Explaining to the Central officials about the flagship programmes, Mr. Praveen Prakash spoke elaborately about the school infrastructure programme ‘Nadu-Nedu’ under which, State-run schools were given a facelift, distribution of uniforms, textbooks and other materials as part of the ‘Vidya Kanuka’ scheme, printing of bilingual textbooks by the SCERT to ensure a smooth transition of students from Telugu to English medium and distribution of tabs to students to help them keep pace with the changing modes of education.

Mr. Praveen Prakash informed that out of the allocation of ₹2,626.52 crore in funds during the last academic year, the State Government had utilised 95 % of it. The expenditure had gone up by more than 35% this year compared to the last four years, he said.

The officials of the Education Department thanked the Central Ministry of Education for grant of additional 10% funds (around ₹2,888 crore) for the academic year 2023-24. The Ministry has agreed in principle to allocate the same.