Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has set 2024 as the deadline to acquire CBSE affiliation for all the government schools in the state. Jagan has directed the concerned officials to take measures keeping the deadline in mind. The decision was taken at a review meeting of the Education Department held on Monday, October 11.
The state government has also set its sights on improving the sports culture in the schools. The Chief Minister said that playgrounds should be mandatory for all schools. He directed officials to map the schools without playgrounds so that necessary lands can be acquired and allotted for playgrounds in such schools. With schools in the state having reopened on August 16, the Chief Minister sought to know the status of the COVID-19 preventive measures in educational institutions along with the attendance of the students.
Officials said that there is no significant impact of COVID-19 on schools due to the preventive measures put in place by the state government, adding that all the teachers attending the schools are vaccinated. Jagan also directed the Education Department to link the ‘attendance in schools’ to the ‘Amma Vodi’ scheme from the next academic year. The primary objective of the programme is to prevent school drop-outs. Launched in January 2020, the Amma Vodi scheme gives financial assistance of Rs 15,000 to mothers and guardians of school-going children from low-income families.
The Chief Minister said, “To ensure that all school children attend classes, we made it mandatory that the Amma Vodi scheme is only applicable to those children having 75% attendance. But, unfortunately, due to COVID pandemic, schools could not be operated in a regular manner,”. The overall attendance of students in August was 73 %, it was 82% in September and 85% in October so far.
Responding to state officials' proposal to introduce rankings for schools based on performance through a social audit, the Chief Minister directed them to discuss the matter with the teachers.
Jagan said that the ranking system is only meant to identify where the schools are lacking, not to point out the mistakes.