Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan on Friday said the State should be a role model in the country in the implementation of the National Education Policy-2020.
Addressing the Vice-Chancellors of 20 universities at a review meeting organised remotely from Raj Bhavan, the Governor said the State government was committed to implementing the NEP in its true spirit, and urged the Vice-Chancellors to take a leading role in its implementation by overcoming the challenges, if any.
National programmes
Pointing to the fact that the policy envisions a robust and vibrant public education system in the country, he said that the national flagship programmes such as ‘Unnat Bharat Abhiyan’ and ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’ would also be part of the NEP-2020 and said that the issues of financial, infrastructure, human resource and governance in the universities were pro-actively being addressed by the government.
Education Minister A. Suresh said that the NEP was expected to bring about structural, institutional and curricular reforms in the higher education system in the country and many of the suggestions made by the government had been incorporated in the policy in respect of governance and financial aspects such as improving the GER (Gross Enrolment Ratio) through incentivising education through programmes such as Jagananna Amma Vodi and Jagananna Goru Mudda.
The Minister said the government had already implemented several recommendations of the NEP- 2020 such as academic quality audit cell, skill development centre, incubation centres etc. even before the launch of the policy.
He pointed out that the State’s GER stood at 32.4% against the national average of 28.8%, and the NEP-2020 envisaged to achieve a GER of 50% by 2035, whereas the State government aimed at achieving a GER of 90% by 2035. Infrastructure in higher education institutions would be upgraded under the Nadu-Nedu programme.
The Minister said the NEP would transform the education sector in the country as it focused on making education accessible, equitable, inclusive.
Mobile application
Secretary to Governor Mukesh Kumar Meena said Raj Bhavan had taken the initiative to develop a mobile application in which the universities could upload data on monthly progress made by them in the implementation of NEP, for review of the Governor.
Special Chief Secretary, Higher Education, Satish Chandra, and Chairman, AP State Council of Higher Education, Hemachandra Reddy, also participated.
The Vice-Chancellors informed the Governor about the progress made by them in implementation of NEP and their respective future plan of action.
