‘Transforming Education My Priority, Not CM Post’: Lokesh
AP Education Minister Nara Lokesh said his focus is on transforming education, creating jobs and developing skills rather than seeking the Chief Minister’s post.
Becoming Chief Minister is not an immediate priority for Nara Lokesh. “My focus and priority is rather on transforming the education system as quickly as possible,” the education minister has said.
Participating in a conclave organised by an English media house in Kochi, Lokesh said he had never aspired for high positions and wanted to work towards winning the people’s hearts.
On the employment challenge, Lokesh said creating jobs was the present AP government’s “only agenda,” the target being 20 lakh jobs to fulfill the aspirations of the youth. The government, he said, is revising the education curriculum, working with industries and developing skills needed for emerging sectors.
The minister claimed that about 25 per cent of investments in India from abroad over the past year came to Andhra Pradesh. The state was developing 23 sector-specific clusters, from agriculture and horticulture to IT, steel, cement, aquaculture, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and quantum technology, with an emphasis on building complete ecosystems.
Nara Lokesh said the state was following a 3S investment strategy — speed, service and stability. Project clearances were being expedited, investors were being updated through an ERP system and a stable policy framework was being offered.
On quantum technology, he said it was not a fantasy but a next-generation sensation. Andhra Pradesh would establish a set of 156-bit quantum computers in Amaravati and develop an ecosystem around research, material science and cryogenic technology.
Defending the DSC teacher recruitment process, Lokesh said the examination was conducted transparently through a computer-based system and no allegation had been proven. The sports certificates that were being questioned in court were issued during the previous YSRC government’s term. The present government, he said, is ready to abide by court directions.
The minister said 16,000 teachers had been recruited and trained by the present government, while student data was being used to prevent dropouts. About 1.10 lakh students had returned to government schools from private schools during the past two years, he said.
On Gen Z, Lokesh said young people were seeking systemic change cutting across caste, religion and region. “Jobs, jobs and jobs” was their primary demand, he said.
The IT minister said AI and quantum technologies were being introduced to students and computer labs were being established, but transforming the education system would require at least a decade of sustained reforms.
On Real Time Governance, Lokesh said data from different departments was integrated to generate alerts and advisories, helping in areas such as water management, power planning and weather-based advice to farmers.
Nara Lokesh said Andhra Pradesh was also doing advance planning for the water and power requirements of data centres. On investments, he said he followed an “ABC — Always Be Closing” approach, adding that even cricket matches provided opportunities to meet industrialists and pursue investments for the state.