Major changes brought in education sector for better future: Andhra CM

Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) [India], September 20 : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday said that the state government is bringing major changes in the education sector to make youth competent and market-ready.
He said drastic changes in the medical and health sector are being brought in to bring quality medicare within the reach of the needy.
Speaking at the State Assembly, the Chief Minister said the State government has been striving not just for right to education but for right to English medium and the right to higher education with incentives from pre-primary to college education while the previous dispensation had tried to push back government schools into oblivion to benefit corporate schools with a vested interest.
"We have chalked out our priorities well and wanted to see that the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) is drastically improved by providing incentives and also revamping the schools under Nadu Nedu. We have instructed that 12 visible changes should be in place in the government schools which include, toilets, clean drinking water, repairs, tube lights and fans, furniture for students and teachers, green chalk boards, painting, English lab, compound wall, kitchen shed, additional rooms and digital interactive panels."
Besides government schools, CM Reddy said preprimary foundation schools and Anganwadi hostels are also being developed under Nadu Nedu. In the first phase 15,715 schools were revamped with a cost of Rs 3,700 crore and the digitization of classrooms will be in place from the next academic year.
The GER in primary schools for 2015-16 in the State was very poor and we could increase it drastically through the schemes like Amma Vodi, Goru Muddha, Vidya Deevena and Vasathi Devena. While government schools had 37.20 lakh students in 2018-19, it increased to 44.29 lakh in 2021-22, he said.
Under the Amma Vodi scheme, mothers are incentivized to send their children to school with Rs 15,000 per annum with a rider of 75 per cent attendance and Rs 1,000 each should be contributed toward toilets and school maintenance funds for the upkeep of schools.
According to the state government, during the three years Rs 19,617 crores were spent under the scheme. Under Gorumuddha, with daily changing menu and nutritious food, the State has been spending Rs 1,800 crore.
Vidya kanuka kits with a school bag, bilingual textbooks, workbooks, notebooks, three pairs of uniforms, shoes, two pairs of socks and dictionary are being given to students on the school reopening day itself which cost about Rs 886 cores and for class VIII students and teachers 5.18 lakh tabs would be given in November last week, the state government said.
The tabs would have preloaded edtech content which would serve as a home tutorial.
Chief Minister said Vidaya Deevena is the other incentive where full fees reimbursement is given along with Vasathi Devena which takes care of the hostel and mess charges and the total amount works out to Rs 11,717 crores. The curriculum is changed with job orientation.
On the medical front, YSR Village Clinics and the concept of family doctor is being worked out so that village clinics and PHCs take care of preventive medicine while the CHCs, area and district hospitals take care of the curative treatment. Every Mandal will have four doctors and two ambulances with one doctor and an ambulance touring villages assigned and the regular visits would familiarize the patients and their ailments, thus developing a rapport, Reddy said.
Of the 10,032 village clinics, 3,673 are ready and a number of Rs 1,692 crores was spent and the project would be completed by year-end. Staff recruitment will be done by October 15.
In addition to the 11 teaching hospitals another 17 hospitals are coming up and construction is at various stages and the medical and health care has improved drastically when compared to the previous government where the hospitals had sordid tales to tell, he said.