AP Govt's Educational Reforms Revolutionary: Delhi Deputy CM Sisodia

NEW DELHI: Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia, on Sunday said that the Andhra Pradesh government has shown the way to bring revolutionary changes in the education sector. Speaking during the last day of the seven-day International Education Conference  held by the Delhi government , he said that Education ministers from all states should work together to create better systems for India. "I would like to learn from Andhra Pradesh on how regulation and autonomy manifest on the ground through state-level legislation, especially the reformed structure of Anganwadi workers,”he said.

"When I met the team from Andhra Pradesh, I could sense the political will to transform the sector,” he said and also stated that Delhi and Andhra Pradesh had been working together, learning and sharing ideas. “When two Ministers from two different States work together to solve some similar and some unique challenges, the model that emerges will help the education system in the country,” he said.

The week-long conference saw 22 education experts from India and other countries including the United Kingdom, USA, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Singapore, and Canada.

The final day of the conference also saw Andhra Pradesh education minister Dr Adimulapu Suresh highlighting reforms initiated by the YSRCP government . He thanked the Delhi CM for creating a platform through the conference to share the best practices being followed by various States in the education sector. He also extended an invitation to the Delhi education team to visit Andhra Pradesh.

“In Andhra Pradesh, in the past 19 months, we allocated 16%-18% out of our total budget to the education department to show our commitment,” Suresh said, while talking about the key reforms in the southern state, including bilingual textbooks from classes 1-6, improved monitoring and regulatory mechanisms, and incentivisation of SMC participation through ‘parent committees’.

''The Chief Minister, during his padayatra, had realised that poverty was preventing many children from going to schools and which is why he made ‘education for all his priority,” he said.

We are seeing many good results with significant changes in the education system with the welfare programs for students. He also spoke about the  Jaganna Amma Vodi, Jagannanna Vidyakanuka, Nadu-Nedu, Jagannanna Gorumudda, Jagannanna Vidyadivena, Jagannanna Vidyavasati schemes and their implementation in the State. Teachers, parents and children were motivated to come into the education fold by incentivising these schemes.

While the state budget is Rs 2 lakh crore, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has allocated Rs 35,000 Crore for education, which is unprecedented when compared to any other state, he said.

The Education Minister mentioned that AP had appointed an Educational Reforms Committee and implemented its recommendations, most of which were in line with the National Education Policy 2020. The State Government also constituted two statutory bodies -- AP Regulatory and Monitoring Commission for School Education and Higher Education, which was given the task of  finalising fee structure and other key aspects related to infrastructure and curriculum. For this experts, including administrators, academicians and policy-makers from across the country were brought in, he said.  

During the course of the conference, setting up cadre of specialist teachers, collaborative professional development, shared lesson-planning, and providing teachers with agency and autonomy along with increased interaction with parents were suggested as key measures for improvement of school education and teacher training. (With inputs from PTI )