To take the proposal forward, the state government is planning meetings at all 44,303 aided and government schools across the state.
Published Dec 06, 2024 | 12:20 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 06, 2024 | 12:20 PM
A school in Andhra Pradesh. (X)
Aiming to improve school education in the state, the Andhra Pradesh government has decided to involve parents and alumni by considering their suggestions and feedback.
To take the proposal forward, the state government is planning meetings at all 44,303 aided and government schools across the state on Saturday, 7 December.
The state’s move echoes the Delhi government’s similar initiative which yielded good results.
The Andhra Pradesh government is planning to scale up its Mana Badi-Mana Bhavishyathu (Our School-Our Future) initiative across the state.
It believes that if the programme could be implemented as planned, it could usher in revolutionary changes in the education system. The initiative will witness the participation of 71.45 lakh parents and their children who number about 35.84 lakh, and 1.88 lakh teachers.
The programme envisages the creation of a bond between the teacher and the students. Each student will be given a holistic card written and signed by the teacher.
It would be presented to the students in the presence of their parents and other students. Earlier, such cards were sent through WhatsApp, which lacked any emotional impact
The card will have the student’s scholastic details as well as his health and extracurricular activities. It will also detail how the government plans to help the students reach their aims.
Since parents’ participation is key to the programme, the government intends to make them feel a sense of belonging to the school where their children study. Schools will organise sports contests for the parents from 9 am to 1 pm on Saturday; like tug of war and rangoli.
Following the events, parents would be served lunch with their children. Feedback on the quality of the food and hygiene conditions will be recorded by the school authorities.
After the sports events, there will be parent-teacher meetings with the participation of alumni of the school concerned. Notably, the meeting would be organised by the mothers who have organizational and motivational skills, said the government.
There will also be awareness programmes on parenting, cyber issues, gender sensitivity and so on. Teachers and the alumni would explain to the students how those who hailed from their village are doing well in life to motivate them.
Devina Srinivas, a parent, welcomed the initiative, saying, “After India attained independence, the government set up more schools than necessary but overlooked the need to improve the standard of education. I hope this initiative will surely help the students in attaining a life of success and fulfilment.”
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Education Minister N Lokesh will attend the programme at Bapatla Municipal School while ministers and MLAs have been asked to be present at schools in their respective constituencies.
School Education Secretary Kona Shashidhar said all the 45,303 schools in the state will get ratings on a scale of zero to five. The rating will depend on the academic performance and the infrastructure in place at the schools.
The government will help those schools that are found to be lacking in standards and remain laggards. It is proposed to organise training programmes for the staff of such schools.
“Private schools in our state have more talented faculty compared to government institutions. We are lagging behind private schools and this trend needs to be reversed,” said Shashidhar.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
