Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly Speaker Thammineni Seetharam on Friday said the government had taken many initiatives such as Nadu-Nedu and Amma Vodi to strengthen the education system at the grassroots level.
Mr. Seetharam was the chief guest on the second day of the Andhra Pradesh Teachers’ Federation’s (APTF) 75th anniversary celebrations here.
Addressing the delegates, the Speaker said Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy was keen on addressing the grievances of the teachers for effective implementation of the government’s flagship programmes.
The Speaker also promised the APTF to use his good offices and arrange a meeting for its members with the Chief Minister to enable them to air the issues such as scrapping of the Contributory Pension System (CPS) and continuation of primary schools.
APTF State president K. Bhanumurthy and general secretary P. Panduranga Varaprasada Rao informed the Speaker that the APTF had always been cooperating with the government in improving the educational standards at all levels.
Earlier, four seminars were organised, in which many experts aired their views on a range of issues.
Vice-Chancellor of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University N. Venkata Rao said that ending inequalities in the education system would help the students of the downtrodden sections reach greater heights.
Former Information Commissioner M. Sridhar said rapid reforms and privatisation of education would not augur well for the sector.
Former president of the federation A. Narasimha Reddy called for effective implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) and the Kothari Commission’s recommendations.
A science exhibition was organised on the sidelines of the meeting.
APTF district president M. Madanmohan and secretary Ch. Srinivas said that 40 issues pertaining to the teachers were discussed at the meeting.
Telugu medium
They said the APTF was for continuation of Telugu medium in schools. The grievances of the model schools, A.P. Residential Schools, and KGBV institutions should be addressed immediately, they demanded.
The other demands of the federation were as follows: installments of drought allowance should be paid to the eligible teachers; loan applications pertaining to Provident Fund, APGLI, and GIC should be processed quickly; retirement benefits have to be paid within one month of retirement; and non-teaching tasks such as supervision of mid-day meal programme should not be entrusted to the teachers.
The three-day conclave would come to an end on Saturday.
