Andhra Pradesh HRD Minister Lokesh hints at ushering in reforms in Intermediate education

Andhra Pradesh HRD Minister N. Lokesh aims to reform Intermediate education, seeking input from Narayana colleges for improvement.

Andhra Pradesh Human Resources Development (HRD) Minister N. Lokesh has said Intermediate education is in for several reforms.

“The government has set a goal to streamline the Intermediate education system and bring it on a par with institutions such as Narayana colleges,” Mr. Lokesh said on Friday while replying to a question in the Legislative Assembly on government degree and junior colleges, posed by TDP member Ganta Srinivasa Rao.

“We have sought some inputs from MA&UD Minister P. Narayana, who is the head of the Narayana group of institutions. He made certain suggestions when he attended a workshop as chief guest on Thursday,” Mr. Lokesh said.

“Focus is now being laid on buildings, faculty and study material by holding meetings with senior officers of the Secondary and Intermediate Education boards. The government has plans to develop infrastructure by introducing ranking mechanism in the government schools,” he said.

Expressing concern that the admission rate in the government degree colleges was limited to 50%, Mr. Lokesh said the primary reason for this was that the degree colleges were run in dilapidated buildings with no proper faculty. “We are formulating plans to improve degree colleges as industry-centric,: he said.

The admissions in government junior colleges came down drastically as there was not enough staff strength, particularly teachers. After the NDA came to power, the admissions had gone up by over 15,000 in the junior colleges, which was a welcome step, he said.

“After dividing the students into A, B and C categories, bridge courses are being conducted for those who are weak in certain subjects,” Mr. Lokesh said, and added that efforts were on to see to it that the government colleges competed with the Narayana institutions.