Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday said that the gross enrolment ratio (GER) in the higher education sector should improve remarkably with the State providing fee reimbursement and implementing schemes like Vasathi Deevena.
Mr. Jagan reviewed various aspects of the higher education sector with the department officials and asked them to focus on improving the GER from the current 32.4 % to around 90 %.
The Chief Minister said colleges would be reopened on October 15 and all Common Entrance Tests (CETs) should be completed by September.
Mr. Jagan said funds for implementation of programmes like Vidya Deevena and Vasathi Deevena would be released immediately after colleges reopen.
New pattern
Explaining the new pattern of the education proposed to be implemented from the fresh academic year, Mr. Jagan said a three-year degree course would include a 10-month apprenticeship period. Students who desire to continue would study the fourth year that would comprise skill development and job orientation courses and the four-year course would be called degree honors.
At the time of admission, a student would have the choice of selecting a three-year degree course or a four-year course. Similarly, a 10-month apprenticeship would be compulsory in the fourth year of professional courses like B. Tech. Students who secure 20 credits would be given the honors degree, he said.
Mr. Jagan said his government had been working really hard to bring in sweeping reforms in the education sector and warned that stringent action would be taken against the colleges that flout norms.
The Chief Minister also gave his nod for filling up 1,100 vacant posts of assistant professors in universities in the State and wanted the government colleges to aim for self-sustenance.
Nadu-Nedu
Mr. Jagan said under Nadu-Nedu, old medical colleges, which were in a bad shape during the previous government, were being renovated. Announcing that the Nadu-Nedu programme would be implemented in colleges also, he asked the officials to prepare an action plan for it.
Mr. Jagan also asked them to start works for the proposed tribal engineering college at Kurupam and also to start universities at Prakasam and Vizianagaram districts besides construction of a Tribal University at Paderu. He also gave his nod for establishing Telugu and Sanskrit Academies.
Chairman of the Higher Education Regulatory and Monitoring Commission Vangala Eshwaraiah, Special Chief Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Satish Chandra and others were present at the review meeting.