Key Directives Issued by Minister Nara Lokesh on Mega DSC

Taking pivotal steps toward reforming the state's education system, Minister for Education and IT, Nara Lokesh, conducted an extensive high-level review meeting with senior officials. The meeting, held at his residence in Undavalli, lasted over three hours and focused on enhancing performance across all segments of education, from school to higher education.

Nara Lokesh directed officials to make meticulous arrangements for the upcoming Mega DSC examinations scheduled to begin on June 6. He emphasized that there should be no shortcomings in the execution and insisted on ensuring that computers and infrastructure at the TCS iON centres and examination venues were fully operational. He also instructed officials to prevent technical issues at the candidate support call centres established for the exam.

Clarifying eligibility concerns, Nara Lokesh stated, “TET qualifications will apply to DSC, and in response to candidates’ requests, we have provided a special option for uploading certificates, which may be submitted during the verification stage.”

In reviewing the recently released 10th standard examination results, the minister directed officials to focus on academic performance to ensure better outcomes in the upcoming academic year. He revealed that a new alternative has been framed for the contentious Government Order 117, which earlier proposed the ‘one teacher for one class’ model, taking into account the feedback from teacher associations. He also called for arrangements to felicitate top-performing students of the 10th grade under the ‘Shining Stars’ initiative.

Regarding teacher transfers, Nara Lokesh emphasized the need for maximum transparency, instructing that the entire education department staff transfer process should be completed before the start of the academic year, in accordance with the Teacher Transfer Act. He also urged for awareness campaigns to encourage parents to enroll all children in the 'Badi Eedu' program and ordered timely availability of textbooks and Vidya Mitra kits.

Focusing on higher education, Nara Lokesh ordered the swift formulation of guidelines to restart the Ambedkar Overseas Education Scheme, which had been discontinued by the previous administration. He also directed preparations to launch the ‘Kalalaki Rekkalu’ scheme—intended to support female students pursuing higher education—from the current academic year.

The review covered admissions, faculty shortages, and performance improvements in government degree colleges. Lokesh recommended that stakeholders be consulted on the new academic model involving three-major and single-major subjects. He stressed the need to strengthen government degree colleges and set a target for two state universities to secure positions within the QS Top-100 rankings by enhancing academic standards.

He also approved the modernization of 205 government libraries across the state to serve the unemployed and the public more effectively. Additionally, he gave a green signal for the transfer of lecturers in government junior colleges.

Senior officials who attended the meeting included Principal Secretary for Education Kona Sasidhar, Director of Collegiate Education Narayana Bharat Gupta, Director of Intermediate Education Krithika Shukla, and Commissioner of School Education Vijaya Rama Raju.