Vijayawada: After nearly a seven-month gap, colleges across Andhra Pradesh will reopen on October 15. Announcing this, chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy stated that all CET exams would be conducted in September.
At a review meeting on higher education on Thursday, he said recruitment of assistant professors in universities to fill vacant posts would also commence shortly.
The chief minister said, "It has been decided to reopen colleges on October 15 and soon thereafter, Vidya Deevena Vasathi Deevena funds will be given. All common entrance tests (CETs) should be completed by September."
He said that the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education should go up significantly given the fees reimbursement and Vasati Devena incentives. He wanted GER to go up from the present 32.4 percent to at least 90 percent considering the financial relief that is being provided.
Jagan Mohan Reddy said, "Three-year degree courses will have ten-month apprenticeships. Those who want to continue further will study the fourth year where skill development and job orientation courses will be introduced. The four-year course will be classified as degree (honours). Students should decide beforehand whether they wished to go for the three-year course of four-year Honours. In the four-year professional courses like B Tech, the ten-month apprenticeship is compulsory. Those students who secure 20 credits would be given an honours degree."
The Chief Minister said, "The education system should be changed and a good curriculum will have a better value. Previously no government has focused on higher education but we have to put in our best efforts. Stringent action should be taken against colleges guilty of flouting norms."
Giving the nod for filling up the 1,100 vacancies in universities for the posts of Assistant Professor, he said that government colleges should move towards self-sustenance. He said that the government has been spending Rs 6,000 cores under Nadu Nedu in revamping old medical colleges, which had poor maintenance during the previous government’s rule. In those horrible days, surgeries were carried out under cell phone lights and rats bit infants and there was no answer as to why generators were not functioning. He said that Nadu Nedu should be implemented in colleges as well and asked the officials to prepare an action plan for the same.
The officials said that a cluster university will be coming up at Kurnool along with an Architecture University at Kadapa.
The Chief Minister asked the officials to start works on the tribal engineering college at Kurupam and to start universities at Prakasam and Vizianagaram districts besides a Tribal University at Paderu. He gave his nod for Telugu and Sanskrit academies.
Chairman of Higher Education Regulatory and Monitoring Commission, Justice Vangala Eshwaraiah, Education Special Chief Secretary Satish Chandra and others participated in the review meeting.
