Andhra Pradesh Minister for Education, IT and Electronics Nara Lokesh announced that the government will implement the Wings to Dreams scheme for girl students pursuing higher education from the next academic year. The minister held an extensive review meeting at Undavalli on Friday with senior officials from higher education, intermediate, school education, and skill development departments for over three hours. He said the scheme will support girl students aspiring to study in India or abroad. Officials informed him that 27,112 students from the state are currently studying overseas, while 88,196 students are pursuing higher studies within India. The meeting also discussed the framework for the proposed foreign education support policy.
Expressing concern over rising student suicides in government and private institutions, Lokesh announced the formation of a five-member committee led by Sri Padmavati Mahila University Vice-Chancellor Uma to recommend preventive measures. He directed officials to strictly follow Supreme Court guidelines and ensure improved facilities in private residential colleges while reducing academic pressure on students. He ordered immediate action against private junior colleges operating without proper permissions. Lokesh also instructed officials to provide special training to intermediate students in government colleges to help them secure seats in top institutions like IITs and NITs, and to focus on performance improvement across all government institutions.
The minister reviewed proposals on establishing foreign and private universities in Andhra Pradesh. After his recent Australia tour, officials updated him on ongoing discussions with Western Sydney University, James Cook University, the University of Newcastle, and the University of New South Wales for academic collaborations. Lokesh emphasized the need to offer international-level degree programs. He directed officials to speed up plans for the Education City in Visakhapatnam, a world-class aviation university, an international-standard flying school, MRO facilities, and training centers for pilots and ground personnel, stating that Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu aims to build a global workforce with half of it emerging from Visakhapatnam.
Lokesh said the curriculum for 26 diploma courses is being upgraded to match industry needs. Gujarat-based NAMTECH will establish three hubs in Visakhapatnam, Anantapur, and Chittoor with 13 spokes. He said 83 government ITIs are being linked with major industries and partnerships have already been finalized with companies like Blue Star, Amara Raja, Laurus Labs, Dixon, and HPCL. Under the PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana, approval has been given to provide short-term training for 21,540 candidates. The government has also set up 485 Employability Skill Centres across degree, PG, engineering, and university campuses.
Reviewing school education, Lokesh directed officials to organise a state-level meeting on value-based education in the presence of noted spiritual speaker Chaganti Koteswara Rao. He instructed them to conduct a grand Student Assembly (Mock Assembly) on November 26 as part of Constitution Day celebrations, during which Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu will launch the Children’s Constitution of India. Students from all constituencies will be given representation. Selected School Assistant teachers will be sent to Singapore in March to study teaching methods, followed by a trip to Finland for the best teachers during the summer.
Lokesh stated that Andhra Pradesh is the first state in the country to integrate U-DISE with SSC nominal rolls. He instructed officials to recheck all student data for accuracy. The Guaranteed FLN Baseline Survey will be conducted from November 24 to December 7, and a mega Parent-Teacher Meeting will be held on December 5. He said the last date for TET applications is November 23 and so far 1,94,014 candidates have applied. He also reviewed the court case related to TET eligibility for in-service teachers. Lokesh stressed that improving standards and achieving better outcomes in government schools, colleges, and universities is the government’s main goal.
Human Resources Secretary Kona Sasidhar, School Education Commissioner Vijaya Rama Raju, Higher Education Commissioner Narayana Bharat Gupta, Intermediate Education Commissioner Ranjit Basha, Samagra Shiksha State Project Director B. Srinivasa Rao, Skill Development CEO Ganesh Kumar, and other officials participated in the meeting.