The YSRCP government has ruined the public education system in Andhra Pradesh, says HRD Lokesh Minister

HRD N. Lokesh Minister. File | Photo credit: V. Raju

IT Minister and Human Resources Development N. Lokesh has criticized the former prime minister, Ys Jagan Mohan Reddy, for “ruining the public education system” in the State.

Responding to the Annual State Report of Education “plague” (ASER) – 2024, published on Tuesday (January 28, 2025), Mr. Lokesh said in an X post that the report had clearly demonstrated that, although they had have been large sums of money. Sounded in advertising, no significant measures were taken to improve educational standards.

The ASER-2024 study found that only 56% of class 8 students could read a class 2 Teluu text both in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. He also revealed important learning gaps among students in the rural schools of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, reflecting a national trend of poor literacy and arithmetic skills.

Mr. Lokesh said that under the rule of the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), arbitrarily issued Gos led to the closure of several schools. There was a decrease in educational standards and it was found that schools lacked basic facilities such as drinking water and bathrooms. There was a drastic drop in students ‘assistance rates in schools and teachers’ problems were completely careless, he added.

The minister said that during the previous mandate of the TDP, public schools were much better in terms of educational standards, assistance, infrastructure and encouragement to students towards sports and extracurricular activities. Mr. Lokesh said in the last seven months that he had taken several measures to strengthen the public education system.

The approach is in the AP model

He said that the approach was to collect precise data on the number of students studying in government schools, designing a curriculum that are aligned with emerging needs, providing education and guidance based on the value to encourage students in sports and Other areas, solving teachers’ problems and providing basic infrastructure in schools.

Mr. Lokesh said the government intended to present the Andhra Pradesh school education model by bringing radical changes in the public education system. “We will look for comments from public and education experts in this new model,” he said.