Andhra CM hails jump in govt school enrolments, credits ‘reformative measures’

Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy claimed on Wednesday that the enrolment in government educational institutions in the state increased significantly in the last four years “thanks to the reformative welfare measures taken up by his government”.

Addressing a large gathering of students and their parents at Kurupam in Parvatipuram Manyam district, Jagan said there had been an increase in Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in government schools due to the extension of benefits under the Jagananna Amma Vodi scheme on saturation mode.

“The GER, which was 84.48% in 2018-19, reached 100.80% by 2022-23, as against the national average of 100.13%, due to reformative welfare measures initiated by our government,” Jagan said.

The chief minister released ₹6,392.94 crore towards Jagananna Amma Vodi for the academic year 2022-23, benefitting 8,315,341 students of Class 1 to 12 (intermediate).

The amount of ₹15,000 per student per year would be directly credited into the bank accounts of their mothers.

“The programme, being implemented for the fourth year in a row, will be held for ten days in a festive atmosphere across the state,” he said.

The chief minister said that parents wish their children to become highly educated and settle down well by getting good jobs in the country and abroad.

“Andhra Pradesh was the only state in the country that is implementing the innovative Amma Vodi programme aiming at reducing the dropout rate and increasing the GER in schools,” he said.

“The state government has so far spent ₹66,722 crore in the last four years for reforming the education sector, and the results are there for all to see with the poor getting access to good education,” he added.

Jagan explained various initiatives of his government to improve the education sector in the state. He said the government was taking steps to introduce a digital mode of education to transform students into global citizens.

“Through the Nadu-Nedu initiative, over 62,000 digital classrooms are in the process to be fixed with interactive flat panels for standard 6-10 and 45,000 smart TVs in classrooms for standard 1-5. So far, 5.18 lakh tabs with the content of Byju’s application have been distributed to 4.59 lakh students and 59,176 teachers across all govt and aided schools,” he said.

To improve English-speaking skills from the primary level, an MOU was signed with Education Testing Services (ETS) to conduct TOEFL primary, TOEFL junior and intermediate students, and TOEFL seniors. Certificates are to be distributed this academic year itself, he said.

“Today, when compared to private educational institutions, government schools are performing far better. Students from private schools have joined the state government,” the chief minister added.