Latest news with #HumanResourceDevelopment
The Hindu
3 days ago
- General
- The Hindu
A.P. sets Guinness World Record for organising world's largest PTM
Andhra Pradesh achieved a Guinness World Record for hosting the largest parent-teacher meeting (PTM) on July 10 which saw the participation of over 5.34 million parents and teachers across 61,000 schools. The mega PTM organised across the State by the School Education Department has been recognised by the Guinness World Record authorities. The Guinness World Records officials announced on Monday that A.P. had organised the world's largest PTM, with a total footfall of 1.5 crore attendees, including parents, teachers, students, alumni, school management representatives and school management committee members, besides philanthropists. Expressing happiness over the global recognition, Minister for Human Resource Development Nara Lokesh dedicated it to all teachers who worked relentlessly for the success of the event. He said that the record was officially communicated after meticulous audit of data from Mega PTM 2.0. Samagra Shiksha State Project Director B. Srinivasa Rao explained that over 40 auditors appointed by the Guinness World Records worked day and night to evaluate the data related to the event collected from over 61,000 schools to confirm the award. He said that the global recognition would help the State Education Department to design an Andhra model of public education system which would stand out in terms of quality and other key aspects. Mr. Rao said that the official Guinness World Record would be awarded to the State authorities in the second week of August at a special programme scheduled to be held in Amaravati.
The Hindu
10-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
AIDWA urges Lokesh to address real problems plaguing schools in A.P.
Members of the Andhra Pradesh chapter of All-India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) have urged the Minister for Human Resource Development (HRD) Nara Lokesh to initiate effective measures to address the existing problems in schools, which have been adversely affecting their performances. In a letter addressed to the Minister, the association's State president B. Prabhavati, and general secretary D. Rama Devi, said as part of their recent visit to government schools, certain key issues came to the fore, which needed to be resolved immediately. Citing events like mega Parent-Teacher Meetings organised across the State and attempt to achieve Guinness World Record, they said it would augur well for the school education system if the government focussed on handling real problems. They said the workers engaged to cook midday meal in schools were not paid salaries for some time and some of the schools had not been receiving fine quality rice and allocations were not being made according to the menu. The members said they found many students bringing lunch boxes from home as, according to them, the food served at their school did not taste good. In some schools, children were made to clean toilets in the absence of sanitary workers. Teachers complained that the burden of operating different apps was affecting their teaching schedules. They said in some schools, teachers were seen immersed in their mobile phones, instead of teaching children how to keep the electronic gadgets at a distance and focus on their academics. The AIDWA members cited schools without compound walls, which posed security threat to the students and said mapping of schools without heeding the parents' plea and closure of schools in Dalit habitations in the name of establishing model schools would have an adverse impact on the academic performance of the young learners. They urged the Minister to ensure immediate payment of the salary arrears to workers engaged for cooking the food served in the midday meal programme in schools and demanded a hike in their salaries. Their other demands included conduct of training sessions for teachers on how to make classroom teaching interesting for students and effective steps to control use of mobile phones on school campuses. .
The Hindu
04-07-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Lokesh directs officials to launch skill portal by September 1
Minister for Human Resource Development (HRD) and IT Nara Lokesh on Friday directed officials of the Skill Development Corporation to launch the proposed 'Skill Portal', a platform to connect the youth and industries, by September 1. Addressing a review meeting, Mr. Lokesh said the portal should include skill assessments and provide the latest information on vacancies in companies to help the youth enhance their skills accordingly and secure employment. He wanted the officials to coordinate with various departments to gather comprehensive data. The Minister asked the officials to organise job fairs every three months in each assembly constituency and prepare an action plan for effective functioning of the district employment offices. Interacting with officials of the Overseas Manpower Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (OMCAP), the Minister directed them to hold discussions with embassies of various countries to make overseas jobs and employment opportunities more accessible. The officials said the State had been granted Central funds to the tune of ₹600 crore for development of Industrial Training Institutes under the 'Hub and Spoke' initiative, following the Minister's recent visit to Delhi. Secretary, Department of Skill Development and Training Kona Shasidhar, Managing Director and CEO of A.P. Skill Development Corporation G. Ganesh Kumar, Director of College Education Narayana Bharat Gupta, International Skilling and Mobility Advisor Seetha Sharma and A.P. State Skill Development Corporation Executive Director K. Raghu were present. Effective implementation of UDISE In a review meeting with the officials of Intermediate Education department, Mr. Lokesh instructed them to ensure effective implementation of the United District Information System for Education (UDISE) in Intermediate education. The officials told him that 5,00,965 students had enrolled in the first year of Intermediate education in the current academic year. The Minister said every student should be enrolled in either Intermediate or a vocational education courses after Class 10. 'No student should be allowed to remain at home,' he said categorically. He said the officials should track the enrolment status of each student and coordinate with the School Education Department. Briefing the Minister, the officials said the Ákshara Andhra', a literacy initiative aimed at eradicating illiteracy, would be launched across the State on August 7. Director of School Education Department V. Vijay Ramaraju, Samagra Shiksha State Project Director B. Srinivasa Rao, Commissioner, Intermediate Education, Kritika Shukla and others were present. Officials lauded for smooth conduct of DSC Mr. Lokesh lauded the officials at State and district levels for the successful conduct of the mega District Selection Committee (DSC) examinations. 'After seven years, Mega DSC 2025 was conducted smoothly over 23 days to recruit 16,347 teachers,' he posted on 'X'. He said that 3.36 lakh candidates had submitted 5.77 lakh applications, with 92.9 % attendance. The Minister said that provisions like SC sub-categorisation and 3% sports quota ensured equity and inclusion and that the initial keys has been released.
The Hindu
02-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Teacher felicitated for outstanding services
Minister for Human Resource Development (HRD) Nara Lokesh on Wednesday felicitated M. Kalyani Kumari, a teacher from a remote tribal village in Pathikonda mandal of Kurnool district, for her outstanding services. Recognising her sincere contribution towards improving the student enrolment from 14 to 53 in a single-teacher school at J.M. Thanda of Pathikonda mandal in Kurnool district, where Ms. Kalyani joined in 2017, Mr. Lokesh praised the former and said teachers like her would help the government achieve its goal of strengthening the public education system. The Minister informed that when Ms. Kalyani joined the school, only two of the 14 enrolled students were attending classes regularly, resulting in the authorities concerned to consider closing the school. However, she invested personal interest and also funds to provide study materials, encouraging the students to pursue education. He said that her efforts bore fruits and the student strength rose to 53 by 2020-21 academic year. Of them, 23 students qualified for Gurukul schools and one secured admission in Navodaya. The school currently has 43 students. Sharing her experience, Ms. Kalyani said that even while doing her bit to improve the students' performance, she explained to their parents that quality education is possible in government schools and introduced initiatives like 'Star of the Week', rewarding students every Monday based on parameters like homework, attendance, discipline, prayer, handwriting, hygiene and uniform. To emphasise on personal hygiene, she gifted soaps to the students on their birthdays. Appreciating the government initiative of conducting mega parent-teacher meetings, she said appointing one more teacher in single-teacher schools would help improve outcomes. Taking note of her suggestion, the Minister informed that efforts were on to improve standards in the 9,600 single-teacher schools in the State.
The Hindu
25-06-2025
- General
- The Hindu
APPGCET results see 88.6% pass rate with girls outperforming boys
As many as 88.6% of the candidates who have taken the Andhra Pradesh Post Graduate Common Entrance Test (APPGCET 2025) this year are eligible to join the post graduate programmes across the State this academic year. Minister for Human Resource Development Nara Lokesh formally released the APPGCET 2025 results on Twitter, which were announced by SV University Vice-Chancellor Ch. Appa Rao at the campus here on Wednesday, in the presence of the Registrar M. Bhupathi Naidu, Convener P.C. Venkateswarlu, principals and deans. Of the 25,688 candidates who had applied for the test, 21,995 appeared, out of which 19,488 passed, which takes the pass percentage to 88.6. Women candidates excelled in terms of the number of applicants as well as the passed candidates. A total of 12,025 women candidates out of the 13,485 passed, taking the pass percentage to 89%. On the other hand, 7,463 out of the 8,510 male applicants passed, which pegs the pass percentage at 87.7%. Some subjects were merged in the common entrance test this year keeping the convenience of students. As a result, the tests were held for a total of 31 subjects. Similarly, the question papers were provided in English as well as Telugu, keeping in mind the students who had pursued under graduation in Telugu medium. It may be recalled here that Sri Venkateswara University conducted the entrance test for the first time this year, on behalf of the Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE). The notification was issued on March 31 and the online application process was on from April 2 to May 25. The tests were conducted in a peaceful manner in 10 sessions from June 9 to 12, while the certificates of Physical Education candidates were verified on June 13 and 14.
