Five-member committee for suicide prevention in colleges: Lokesh

Visakhapatnam: State education and IT minister, Nara Lokesh, announced that the 'Kalalaku Rekkalu'(wings to dreams) scheme will be implemented from the next academic year to support girl students pursuing higher education in India and abroad. During a review meeting with senior officials of the higher education, intermediate, school education and skill development departments held at Undavalli on Friday, the minister expressed concern over rising student suicides in educational institutions. He said that a five-member committee headed by Sri Padmavati Mahila Visvavidyalayam vice-chancellor Prof V Uma will be constituted to recommend preventive measures. He instructed officials to ensure strict implementation of Supreme Court guidelines and directed steps to improve facilities in private residential colleges and reduce academic pressure on students.The minister said financial assistance will be provided to eligible girl students aspiring for higher studies. Officials informed that 27,112 students from Andhra Pradesh are currently studying overseas, while 88,196 are pursuing higher education within India. Special coaching will be provided to intermediate students in government colleges to help them secure seats in premier institutions such as IITs and NITs. He also ordered action against private colleges operating without proper permissions. The minister also reviewed the implementation of foreign education programmes and proposals for establishing foreign and private universities in the state. Discussions are underway with Western Sydney University, ames Cook University, University of Newcastle, and University of New South Wales for academic collaboration. Plans include the development of an Edu-City in Visakhapatnam, an aviation university, an international flying school, MRO facilities, etc.Reviewing school education, the minister directed preparations for a state-level conference on value-based education in the presence of spiritual scholar Chaganti Koteswara Rao."A student assembly (Mock Assembly) will be held on Nov 26, marking Constitution Day, during which chief minister Chandrababu Naidu will launch the Children's Constitution. Selected school assistant teachers will be sent to Singapore in March and outstanding teachers will be sent to Finland in the summer for exposure visits. The TET application deadline ends on November 23, and 1,94,014 applications have been received so far. The government's primary goal is to improve standards and academic outcomes in government schools, colleges and higher educational institutions," added Lokesh.The meeting was attended by HRD secretary Kona Shashidhar, school education commissioner Vijaya Rama Raju, higher education commissioner Narayana Bharat Gupta, intermediate education commissioner Ranjith Basha, Samagra Shiksha state project director B. Srinivasa Rao, skill development CEO Ganesh Kumar, and other senior officials.

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