Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has said that there should be no Gram Panchayat in the State without a government school.
“Every GP should have a school, whether it is a small village or a tribal hamlet,” Mr. Reddy said at a review meeting on school education at the Secretariat on Sunday. “Boys and girls should not be forced to travel to neighbouring villages or nearest towns to pursue education,” he said.
He also wanted all the schools that were closed on the pretext of zero students to be re-opened with immediate effect. “Irrespective of the number of students in schools, these institutions should run,” he said, adding that a mega DSC teachers recruitment would be conducted shortly to fill up vacancies.
He also reviewed the progress of works under the ‘Mana Ooru, Mana Badi’ programme and directed officials to complete the pending works and make government schools the best in terms of infrastructure.
Mr. Reddy also wanted officials to examine the hurdles in teachers’ promotions and transfers’, and wanted them to talk to teachers’ unions to overcome these hurdles.
He sought to know from officials the electricity charges levied on educational institutions and asked them to find alternative measures to avoid bringing these institutions under the commercial category for billing. There should be enough sweepers and sanitation staff in each school, he said.
Skill universities
The Chief Minister also announced establishment of skill universities in combined districts. At a high-level review meeting with officials on higher education, he wanted officials to examine establishment of these skill universities in tune with the industry needs.
He stressed the need to introduce courses that generate employment. He directed officials to tour Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha to study the functioning of skill universities there. He said these skill universities should be established at nine places, including one in Kodangal. A team of officials comprising higher education, industries and labour departments would be constituted shortly.
The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary A. Santhi Kumari, TS Council of Higher Education Chairman Limbadri, Education Principal Secretary Burra Venkatesham, School Education Secretary Devasena and CMO officials V. Seshadri and Shahnawaz Qasim.
