Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh’s Minister of State for Education, IT, and Electronics, Nara Lokesh, has emphasized the need for textbooks to be ready for students by the start of the next academic year. During a review meeting with senior school education officials at his Undavalli residence on Friday, Lokesh urged for advanced planning to ensure the timely delivery of textbooks.
Expressing concern over the tragic incident in Anakapalli, where three students died after consuming contaminated food at an orphanage, Lokesh stressed the importance of strict monitoring in agency schools and privately-run ashrams to prevent such incidents in the future. He assured that strict action would be taken against any level of question paper leaks.
Lokesh also mentioned that assessment tests are currently underway in 1,000 schools across the state implementing the CBSE syllabus, with policy decisions to follow after the results are analyzed. The teacher adjustment process at the mandal level is nearly complete, with the next phase focusing on the division level. Lokesh noted that the opinions of teacher associations were taken into account during the adjustment process.
The minister called for a grand celebration of Teachers’ Day on September 5, with special recognition for outstanding teachers. He also announced plans for a mega parent-teacher meeting in November and directed the organization of science fairs and sports meets in October, November, and December, emphasizing the development of sports skills among students. Lokesh highlighted that the burden of sanitation-related apps on teachers has been lifted, with responsibilities now assigned to welfare assistants in village secretariats and school management committees.
Lokesh also ordered the immediate payment of pending salaries to ayahs and watchmen in schools and directed officials to focus on resolving court disputes affecting the school education department. The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary of School Education Kona Shashidhar, Director Vijayarama Raju, Director of Intermediate Education Kritika Shukla, and other senior officials.
