Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K. Rosaiah on Saturday directed the School Education Department to put an end to dropouts in schools from this academic year.
Reviewing the Department affairs here, ahead of the re-opening of schools in the State from Monday, the Chief Minister wanted the authorities concerned to closely monitor attendance of students as well as teachers and ensure that ’Parent-Teacher Committees’ in each school functioned effectively.
“With the enactment of Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, it is expected that issues of drop-outs, out-of-school children, quality of education and availability of trained teachers will be addressed in the short to medium term,” the Chief Minister said.
Rosaiah said steps were being taken for filling up 30,704 secondary-grade teacher posts based on the recommendations of a Cabinet sub-committee. “This should improve quality of education in government schools and also those run by local bodies,” he added.
He directed the authorities to judiciously utilise funds under schemes like Rajiv Vidya Mission, Rashtriya Madhyamik Siksha Abhiyan and other schemes for improving infrastructure in schools.
Information and Communication Technology was introduced in 5,000 schools in the State from the 2008-09 academic year while it would be introduced in another 1,300 schools from the current academic year at a total cost of Rs. 460 crore.
Minister for Secondary Education D. Manikya Varaprasad, School Education Secretary D. Sambasiva Rao and other senior officials attended the meeting.
The Chief Minister wished the students “All the very best” in the new academic year.
