“We are looking at an education policy for Andhra Pradesh that is in alignment with the National Education Policy and the Right to Education Act,” said N. Balakrishnan, Chairman of the 11-member committee constituted by the government to usher in reforms in the education sector.
Prof. Balakrishnan from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, along with members of the committee, is on the job of meeting and collecting views and suggestions from various stakeholders, based on which the committee will make its recommendations.
The committee members met for the second time in city on Saturday and had a day-long meeting with students, from primary to post-graduate-level; teachers, both from private and government schools; parents, representatives of local NGOs and intellectuals to get a first hand account of their perspectives.
Vital inputs
“We have received vital inputs about what we could do to make the education system in Andhra Pradesh the very best. The interaction was fruitful,” said Prof. Balakrishnan, adding the committee had a lot of homework to do as it had received a large amount of inputs.
“The committee will collate them and think about the next step,” he said at a press conference that followed the stakeholders’ consultation meeting.
He said among the many key concerns were issues of fee structure, quality of education and teachers and infrastructure. “These are common problems everywhere. We will have to understand the quantum of the problem in Andhra Pradesh and come up with a suggestion,” he said.
‘Smart students’
Prof. Balakrishnan found the young students ‘quite smart’. “We asked them what they wanted to become after 10-15 years. We also wanted to know if they are proud of their school, if they had any complaints about their school, their teachers or parents,” he said, adding that they did not complain, but said that things could have been better.
Replying to a reporter’s query, he said: “Many suggestions are coming to us from various quarters. We are in a listening mode now. We’ll collect them and think of feasible solutions.”
Prof. Balakrishnan sought to clarify that these were long-term plans which would show impact on the next generation. “We need to be patient. Patience is the key to any long-term policy,” he said.
It will take two or three months for the committee to submit its report.
Committee members Uday B. Desai, Director, IIT, Hyderabad; Jandhyala B.G. Tilak, former Vice-Chancellor National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA); Nalini Juneja from NIEPA, New Delhi; R. Venkata Reddy from M.V. Foundation, Hyderabad; Sudha Murthy, Chairperson, Infosys Foundation; N. Rajasekhar Reddy, former Vice-Chancellor, Higher Education Council; social activist from Bhimavaram B. Ramakrishnam Raju, representative of educational institutions Aluri Sambasiva Reddy, B. Eswaraiah from Rishi Valley and D.V.R. K. Prasad from Oakridge International School attended the session.
