Andhra schools to reopen on Aug 16, Nadu-Nedu facelift unveiling soon 

VIJAYAWADA:  The State government has decided to reopen schools on August 16 and dedicate the revamped schools under the first phase of Mana Badi Nadu-Nedu programme to people on the same day. Further, the Jagananna Vidya Kanuka scheme will also commence on August 16. Modalities of the New Education Policy (NEP) will also be announced on the same day.

Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy held a review meeting on education and progress of Nadu-Nedu on Friday. Education officials explained the details of exercise done on the NEP with inputs and suggestions made in the previous review meeting to him.

Under the NEP, there will be six categories of schools with classes from PP-1 to XII. They include satellite foundation schools (PP-1 and PP-2), foundation schools (PP-1, PP-2 and class 1 and 2), foundation plus schools (PP-1, PP-2 and class 1 to 5), pre-high schools (PP-1, PP-2, and class 1 to 7), high schools (class 3 to 10) and high school plus (class 3 to 12). 

Explaining steps initiated by the government to improve educational standards, the Chief Minister said the medium of instruction will be English from Anganwadis, which will be transformed into satellite foundation schools. 

The schools will be set up in every habitation. The schools will come up within 1 km radius of houses of students, while high schools will be set up in 3 km radius. The government will make the most efficient use of teachers under the new education policy to improve standards. Teachers with BEd and PG qualification can teach 18 subjects up to class 5, the Chief Minister said. 

No schools will shut down under NEP: Jagan

The ideal student-teacher ratio will be strictly maintained in all the schools. There will be one teacher for each subject. A separate promotion channel will be set up for Anganwadis, he said. Jagan directed the officials to create awareness about the NEP among parents, teachers and students as the new policy will be in line with national standards.

No school will be closed down and no teacher will be removed under the NEP, he asserted. Reviewing the implementation of Nadu-Nedu, Jagan directed the officials to ensure that there is no scope for corruption in execution of development works as the scheme is envisaged for the bright future of students. The government is spending Rs 16,000 crore for implementation of Nadu-Nedu and NEP, he said.

The officials apprised him of the progress of Nadu-Nedu and arrangements being made for distribution of textbooks and English Telugu dictionary under Vidya Kanuka. They informed him that class 10 students were facing some problems applying for jobs as they were promoted without conducting any exams for two consecutive years due to Covid- 19 as marks scored by them in the qualifying exam will be considered for some recruitments.

Hence, the officials have proposed to award marks to class 10 students, including the 2020 batch, based on their performance in internal examinations. About 70 per cent of marks will be awarded based on their performance in slip tests and 30 per cent of marks on the basis of formative assessment, they said.

Education Minister Audimulapu Suresh, Women and Child Welfare Minister Taneti Vanitha, School Education Principal Secretary Buditi Rajasekhar, Finance Principal Secretary SS Rawat, Finance Secretary Satyanarayana, Women and Child Welfare Director Kritika Shukla, School Education Commissioner Vadrevu China Veerabhadrudu, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan State Project Director Vetri Selvi, School Education Advisor A Murali and other senior officials attended the meeting.

5.19 lakh students pass 2nd-year Inter
Education Minister Audimulapu Suresh announced the second year Intermediate results on Friday evening. A total of 5,19,797 students passed the exam. All Intermediate first-year students were promoted to the second year with minimum marks