Amaravati: Education and IT Minister Nara Lokesh said the state government is taking firm steps to strengthen government-run DIET, BEd and BPEd colleges and to improve the overall quality of teacher training in Andhra Pradesh. Replying to questions in the Legislative Council, Lokesh said the government is focused on filling faculty vacancies, upgrading infrastructure, updating curriculum, and preventing irregularities in private teacher training colleges to ensure transparency and better standards in education.
Lokesh stated that vacancies in DIET colleges are being filled through deputation and that the shortage of teaching staff will be addressed in a phased manner. He said consultations on curriculum updates were held in February this year and the second round of discussions will take place on the 26th and 27th of this month. After these consultations, a revised curriculum will be implemented. The updated training framework will focus on competency-based education, foundational literacy and numeracy, technology integration, and the inclusion of Indian values to prepare future teachers for a competitive and changing education system.
The minister said facial recognition systems have already been implemented in private BEd colleges to prevent malpractice and fake attendance. He added that the government is planning to extend this system to engineering colleges as well, especially as fee reimbursement is linked to student attendance and accountability. Lokesh said teaching methodologies and pedagogy need regular updates, and teacher training institutions will also be aligned with periodic curriculum revisions followed in school education. He added that SCERT is being strengthened and that orders have been issued to improve basic facilities in training centres and DIET colleges across the state.
Lokesh said there were no recruitments in government DIET, BEd and BPEd colleges between 2019 and 2024, but the present government has appointed 16,000 teachers within 18 months of coming to power. He said the government has decided to conduct DSC every year by taking retirements into account. To reduce pressure on students, Saturdays have been declared as “No Bag Day”. Lokesh also said weekly programmes on moral values are being conducted in schools and that efforts are on to take these initiatives to every school. He added that nutritional support is being provided through the Puttaparthi Sathya Sai Trust with the ragi java programme and that the agreement is being renewed.
Highlighting the importance of mental health, Lokesh said the government is using AI-based tools to identify mental health issues among students at an early stage. He said the state suffered infrastructure losses in teacher training institutions after bifurcation, as several SCERT facilities remained in Telangana. He added that SCERT is now being strengthened after a decade and that three DIET colleges will be developed as Centres of Excellence, while basic infrastructure in other DIET colleges will be improved in a phased manner to enhance the quality of teacher education in Andhra Pradesh.
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Lokesh Says Teacher Training Colleges to Get Major Upgrade
