Repeal of G.O. 117: Minister Lokesh tells officials to find a solution acceptable to all sections

Minister Nara Lokesh directs officials to address G.O. 117 issue, focus on improving education system with stakeholder input.

Minister for Human Resource Development and Information Technology Nara Lokesh on Tuesday (January 28) directed officials to propose a solution acceptable to all sections regarding withdrawal of G.O. 117.

G.O. 117 was an order issued by the previous YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government to restructure government schools. As per this order, Classes III, IV and V of the 4,731 Primary Schools in the State were mapped to 3,345 Upper Primary and High Schools, resulting in increase in the dropout rate in government schools.  

Addressing a review meeting with officials of the School and Intermediate Education departments, he asked the officials to collect opinions from the stakeholders at the field level before arriving at a decision in this regard.

The officials informed the Minister about the opinions and suggestions gathered from preparatory meetings conducted at the field level under the supervision of the district Collectors and the Director of the School Education Department.

Mr. Lokesh also wanted the officials to ensure that no student dropped out while carrying out these exercises. He also discussed the Teacher Transfer Act and asked the officials to gather inputs from teachers and their various associations. Emphasising the need to leverage technology to enhance learning abilities among students and benefit teachers, he asked them to declare every Saturday as “No Bag Day” and introduce co-curricular activities for students.

The Minister also directed the officials to develop a unified app for teachers, replacing the existing multiple applications. The initiative to link Aadhaar IDs to confirm the actual number of students in schools must be completed at the earliest, he said and asked the officials to prepare the Andhra Pradesh Model of Education blueprint, which would be discussed with different sections in the public.

The meeting also discussed reforms proposed to be introduced in the Intermediate Education Department. The meeting was attended by the Secretary, School Education, Kona Sashidhar, the Director, School Education, V. Vijay Rama Raju, Director of Intermediate Education Kritika Shukla and Samagra Shiksha State Project Director B. Srinivasa Rao.