Higher Education Sees Major Shift Under NEP-2020: AP Governor

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Governor S. Abdul Nazeer has said that higher education in the country is undergoing a major shift with the implementation of National Education Policy-2020 and is laying out a vision for a remarkable transformation in India’s higher education landscape by 2040.

Addressing the Vice Chancellors’ conference of the state universities at a hotel here on Monday, the Governor stated that over the years, Andhra Pradesh has built a wider and more inclusive higher education system with a large number of universities and colleges spread across the state, expanding access to higher education significantly.

He pointed out that many young people, especially from rural areas and also from first-generation learner backgrounds, were able to aspire to university education and opined that the increasing participation of women in higher education was a positive and encouraging trend.

The Governor noted that AP’s overall Gross Enrolment Ratio at 36.5, which is above the national average of 28.4, and maintaining a Gender Parity Index of 0.93, by ensuring near-equitable participation of women in higher education, was a clear sign of progress. He commended the AP government for taking up significant steps to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds through scholarships, fee support and other welfare measures and maintained that such efforts helped many young learners enter the higher education system.

IT and HRD minister Nara Lokesh, education secretary Kona Sasidhar, AP State Council of Higher Education chairman K. Madhu Murthy, VCs from all the state universities and dignitaries were present.