AMARAVATI: Major infrastructural lapses and negligence of the previous Government led to parents and students in the state of Andhra Pradesh preferring private schools over the Government run or aided institutions for years now. Educational reforms undertaken by the present government, since it took over in May 2019 were aimed at reversing this very trend by uplifting the standard of education imparted at Government schools.
Statistics reveal that the efforts of the Government in this direction have yielded immaculate results. A total of 42.46 lakh students have enrolled themselves in Government/Government aided schools this year, which is 2.68 lakh more than the enrollment figure from 2019, which stood at 39.78 lakh. What is more invigorating is 2,01,833 students opting for transfers from private to Government schools in just 1 year. The Government’s success in reversing the trend can be attributed to a plethora of student/parent-oriented schemes implemented since 2019. Jagananna Ammavodi, Nadu-Nedu and Jaganna Vidya Kanuka form the base of the Government’s drive to place Government schools at par with their corporate counterparts.
JAGANNA AMMAVODI : Under this flagship scheme, annually, a sum of 15,000 is advanced to the mothers of students of classes 1-12. One would have to say that this scheme has resulted in education being incentivised for students and parents for the first time ever in the country, apart from giving parents the option to educate their children instead of resorting to employing them for extra income.
NADU-NEDU (THEN-NOW): The Government has undertaken a massive exercise of revamping over 45,000 schools in the state under this scheme which is aimed at providing students and teachers with the best possible atmosphere for them to thrive in. Apart from major infrastructural renovations, each of the schools will also be equipped with a dedicated English lab in order to facilitate modern learning. 15,715 schools were taken up in the first phase of the project and are expected to be finished by January, 2021.
JAGANNANA VIDYA KANUKA: ‘Investing on education , is me investing on my kids, the next generation of my state’, said the CM during one of the review meetings he chaired at Tadepalli camp office. His vision translated into the Government extending this scheme all the way up to the 10th grade, along with implementing various other schemes for the betterment of the public education system in the state. Under the scheme, all the students are supplied with uniforms, a school bag, books, socks, a belt and other necessities. This not only reduces the financial turmoil that poor families are put through at the start of each academic year but also helps the government control dropout rates.
