Higher education should be accessible to all: Suresh

Visakhapatnam: Higher education should not be commercialised but it should be accessible to all classes irrespective of their social status, Education Minister Audimulapu Suresh has said.

Taking part in the second meeting of the Higher Education Planning Board organised in Visakhapatnam on Saturday, he laid emphasis on the need to consider education as an investment made to shape future generations.

"From primary to higher education, AP is going through a major transformation by introducing new systems such as research board, quality assurance, regulatory and monitoring commission and community promotion development board. The planning board is expected to yield positive results in two years from now," the Education Minister stated.

He reiterated that AP's educational reforms set an example in the country. About 30 directors and Vice-Chancellors from various universities took part in the meeting held in collaboration with Andhra University, Indian Institute of Management, Visakhapatnam and Indian Institute of Petroleum Energy (IIPE).

"The board aims at bringing all the universities, including agricultural, veterinary and medical institutions, under one umbrella to collaborate research projects and exchange best practices in line with the agenda set by Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy," Suresh informed.

From providing quality education to exchanging best practices and expanding horizons of higher education were some of the topics discussed at the meeting. Commissioner of Collegiate Education Pola Bhaskar said universities in the State should have a unified academic calendar, curriculum, teaching and learning approach and examination system.

State Tourism and Sports Minister M Srinivasa Rao said the State government should encourage youth by promoting sports. He said the Chief Minister was providing sports incentives and giving more encouragement to sportspersons.

Chairman of AP State Council of Higher Education Hemachandra Reddy said the universities would work in coordination with local industries and cater to suit students' needs.

Director of IIM-Visakhapatnam Chandrasekhar said the country's average gross enrolment ratio was 27.2 per cent, compared to 35.28 per cent in the State. Speaking on the occasion, IIPE Director VSRK Prasad mentioned energy and environment should be a part of education.

AU Vice Chancellor PVGD Prasad Reddy said the higher education system needs to embrace new changes and there's an urgent need for students to become enterprising entrepreneurs. Later, Ministers Suresh and Srinivasa Rao jointly launched the newly developed Learning Management System (LMS) by the Board of Higher Education.