Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has called upon the officials of the Higher Education Department to strive to increase the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) to beyond 80%. He also proposed to bring all government degree colleges under one university to add value to the degree courses.
Addressing a review meeting on higher education on Friday, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said that the Jagananna Vidya Deevena and Vasathi Deevena schemes were being implemented on a saturation basis for the benefit of poor students in order to realise the GER goal.
Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy ordered that internship for 10 months be made compulsory for graduates in order to make them worthy of being selected by prospective employers.
Communication skills
He said new courses that would equip the youth with skills required by the industries should be introduced and emphasis laid on improving the communication skills. Besides, he ordered that priority be given to imparting coaching for GRE and GMAT.
The Chief Minister advised the officials to also focus on getting the girl children educated, especially in the western parts of Kurnool and Chittoor and Prakasam districts.
He suggested that four or five universities in the State be chosen for the sake of developing them on a par with the country’s best institutions.
He said that each Assembly constituency should have a degree college, and top priority should be given to improving the standards of graduate courses and the skills of the students.
Nod for filling vacancies
Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy gave the green signal for filling of teaching staff vacancies in the colleges, and insisted that there be no recommendations in the process of recruitment.
The establishment of IIITs in Ongole and Srikakulam should be completed at the earliest, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said.
Education Minister B. Satyanarayana, Chief Secretary Sameer Sharma, Principal Secretary (Higher Education) J. Syamala Rao, and State Council of Higher Education Chairman K. Hemachandra Reddy were among those present.
