Andhra Pradesh has initiated path-breaking reforms in the education sector by rewriting the curriculum and introducing job-oriented courses, thus making the students job-ready, says Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.
The Chief Minister was addressing a gathering after presenting certificates to a few students who had completed their Microsoft Upskilling Certification, at a programme organised at the Convocation Theatre of Andhra University here on Friday.
Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said changes were made in the curriculum for the first time with the introduction of job-oriented courses, and skill development, online skill training and certification programmes. Internship was made mandatory for all the students.
Microsoft programme
“About 35,980 students have successfully completed their training. Microsoft has agreed to impart training to a total of 1.62 lakh students from the State during the present academic year,” the Chief Minister said. Training was being imparted in 40 concepts such as cloud computing, data analytics and IoT, he added.
“The certification programme will improve the job prospects of the trainees,” he said.
“The course costs ₹30,000 in the open market. It costs ₹465 crore to impart training to 1.62 lakh students. After negotiations, the company has agreed to offer the course for just ₹32 crore. The government is bearing the expenditure and offering the training programme free of cost to the students,” Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said.
LinkedIn would host the profiles of the students who complete their Microsoft training course on its job-search portal, he said.
Welfare schemes
On the special focus being given to education, the Chief Minister said English, as a medium of instruction, was introduced from the primary level itself. Welfare schemes such as Amma Vodi, Vidya Deevena, Vasathi Deevena, Nadu-Nedu, and Vidya Kanuka were introduced to motivate the mothers to send their children to the school. He said poverty was found to be the main reason behind the reluctance of the parents to encourage their children to pursue college and higher education.
‘Unique partnership’
Navtez Singh Bal of Microsoft India said that the partnership in education and skills in Andhra Pradesh was unique.
With 40 courses, this was the largest skilling programme in the world. Microsoft and its partner, Softline, had imparted training to 35,900 students from Andhra Pradesh, and they would be provided support through LinkedIn, he said.
Education Minister B. Satyanarayana, Special Secretary to the Chief Minister Harikrishna, and AU Vice-Chancellor P.V.G.D. Prasad Reddy spoke.
Likhitha Nekkanti (B.Sc Statistics) and Achyuth Tadepalli (Electrical Engineering), who completed their training, spoke about their experience.
