Amaravati, Aug 5 (IANS): With their rearrangement under the New Education Policy (NEP), the total number of schools in Andhra Pradesh is poised to rise to 58,000 from 44,000.
Officials apprised Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy of this on Wednesday as he reviewed the NEP in the state.
Under the NEP, schools have been classified into six categories from pre-primary (PP) to Class 12 - satellite schools (PP-1 and PP-2) foundation schools (PP-1 to Class 2), foundation plus schools (PP-1 to Class 5), pre-high schools (PP-1 to Class 7), high schools (Classes 3-10), and high school plus (Classes 3-12).
Reddy directed officials to ensure that teachers are appointed in schools as per classification and minimum student-teacher ratio.
He noted that the medium of instruction in the schools will be English to enable the students to take on the cut-throat competition in the real world while mother tongue Telugu will be taught as a compulsory subject.
"Skilled teachers will be made available in the schools, even the single teacher schools will be transformed where different subjects will be taught by different teachers as this would also reduce the workload on teachers. A promotion channel will also be set up for qualified Anganwadi teachers," the Chief Minister said.
According to Reddy, the state government is spending over Rs 16,000 crore on NEP and the Nadu-Nedu programme.
He instructed officials to create awareness on the NEP and clear doubts, along with orientation programmes to further enlighten district Collectors, Joint Collectors, DEOs, and PDs.
Meanwhile, officials informed the Chief Minister that enrolment in all types of schools rose in the past two years compared to earlier years, thanks to schemes like Amma Vodi, introduction of English as medium of instruction and Nadu-Nedu.
"Enrolment in all types of schools in the state was 72.3 lakh in 2014-15 and it had dropped to 70.4 lakh by 2018-19...the enrollment has again reached 73 lakh in 2020-21 due to the implementation of Amma Vodi Scheme," said an official.
Likewise, enrollment in government schools stood at 42.8 lakh in 2014-15 but dropped to 37.2 lakh by 2018-19 and again rose up to 43.4 lakh by 2020-21, the official added.