Andhra Pradesh HRD Minister N. Lokesh.
Andhra Pradesh Minister for Human Resources Development N. Lokesh has directed officials of the School Education Department to focus on Guaranteed Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FL&N) to develop fundamental skills in reading, writing and mathematics among students.
Addressing a review meeting attended by officials of School Education, Samagra Shiksha and Intermediate Education departments, Mr. Lokesh said it would help improve district and State-level rankings of the government schools. He said teachers should be motivated to enhance learning outcomes.
He wanted the officials to maintain utmost transparency in selecting candidates for ‘Best Teacher’ awards to be given on the occasion of Teachers’ Day on September 5.
‘Aa-Aa’ programme
He said STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) activities should be effectively implemented in the government schools through Atal Tinkering Labs.
The Minister discussed steps to strengthen the High School Plus system. He enquired about the admissions in the first year of Intermediate courses in government junior colleges and directed the officials to implement the Akshara Andhra (Aa-Aa) literacy programme effectively.
Secretary, School Education, Kona Shashidhar, Commissioner of School Education V. Vijay Rama Raju, Samagra Shiksha State Project Director B. Srinivasa Rao, and Director of Intermediate Education Kritika Shukla were among others present.
Later, at a review meeting with the officials of the Skill Development Department, Mr. Lokesh directed them to complete the Skill Portal being developed to connect youth with industry opportunities by August as it was scheduled to be launched on September 1.
Job fairs
He said the District Employment Officers would be renamed as District Employment and Skill Officers, job fairs would be organised every three months in every constituency and international employment opportunities should be facilitated through OMCAP (Overseas Manpower Corporation of Andhra Pradesh).
He wanted support guidelines to be created for those seeking employment abroad to avoid exploitation and a helpline (0863-2340678) and WhatsApp number- 8500027678 should be made available for any issues faced by job-seekers going abroad.
Managing Director and CEO of Skill Development Corporation G. Ganesh Kumar, Director of College Education N. Bharat Gupta, Adviser, International Skilling and Mobility, Seetha Sharma, and APSSDC Executive Director K. Raghu were among others present.
Published – July 16, 2025 06:43 pm IST
