Saturdays to be ‘no bag day’ for Andhra Pradesh school students

The decision was taken at a review meeting presided over by Minister for Education, IT and Electronics Nara Lokesh

Amaravati: School students in Andhra Pradesh need not carry bags every Saturday as the government has declared every Saturday a ‘no bag day’.

The decision was taken at a review meeting presided over by Minister for Education, Information Technology (IT) and Electronics Nara Lokesh on Tuesday.

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The Minister also asked authorities to create co-curricular activities for students.

At a review on school and intermediate education, Minister Lokesh asked officials to gather opinions from teachers and various associations at the field level on the withdrawal of Government Order (GO) 117 and suggest a solution acceptable to all.

The officials explained the opinions and suggestions received in the preparatory meetings organised by the Director of School Education.

The Minister directed the officers to study all these suggestions and initiate steps to see to it that there are no drop-outs of students. The Government Order was issued by the previous YSR Congress government, introducing many reforms in the education system.

However, a section of teachers opposed the GO, saying it would adversely affect the system. The meeting also focussed on the upcoming legislation on the transfer of teachers. Lokesh told the officers to gather the opinions of teachers and unions on this proposed law.

The Minister directed officials to create a single app for teachers in place of several apps to be completed at the earliest.

The exercise of creating an APAAR ID should be completed soon to validate the actual number of students from different schools in the State.

This apart, the Andhra Pradesh Model of Education blueprint, too, should be developed, the Minister told the officers.

The meeting also discussed in detail the reforms to be introduced soon in Intermediate education.

Secretary (Education) Kona Sasidhar, Director V Vijaya Rama Raju, Director of Intermediate Education Kruthika Shukla, and others were present at the meeting.