Andhra Pradesh is targeting the creation of 20 lakh jobs by aligning education and skill development with industry requirements, Human Resource Development Minister Nara Lokesh said at the India Today South Conclave in Kochi.
Lokesh said employment remained one of the biggest concerns raised by young people across the state. He said the government was working on education reforms, industry-linked training and investment to create more employment opportunities.
“Jobs, jobs, and jobs. The single point that today the youth of India is asking is create more and more jobs,” Lokesh said.
ITIS, INVESTMENT TO SUPPORT 20 LAKH JOBS
Lokesh said the government is working to bring industrial training institutes, or ITIs, closer to industrial ecosystems. The aim, he said, was to ensure that skill development was connected to the requirements of companies and sectors creating jobs.
He also said attracting investment remained an important part of the strategy to achieve the 20 lakh jobs target.
Lokesh said the state was focusing on grounding investment projects rather than limiting itself to signing memorandums of understanding. The objective, he said, was to translate investments into employment and build industrial ecosystems in Andhra Pradesh.
EDUCATION REFORMS LINKED TO JOBS
Lokesh said the government wanted to move beyond improving past performance and focus on preparing students for the future. He said Andhra Pradesh was changing curricula and introducing students to emerging technologies.
The state is introducing micro-courses and modernising computer laboratories to expose students to technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing, according to Lokesh.
He said the government was also using student data to identify potential dropouts and intervene early.
“Education system cannot be reformed overnight. It requires a decade, at least a decade of investment,” he said.
The minister linked these reforms to the state’s broader employment strategy, saying curricula needed to be aligned with industry requirements so that students could develop skills relevant to the job market.
1.10 LAKH STUDENTS SHIFT TO GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS
The minister also said 1.10 lakh students had shifted from private schools to government schools in Andhra Pradesh over the last two years. He described the movement as one of the key outcomes of the education reforms undertaken by the state government.
Lokesh also claimed that 12 lakh students had moved from government schools to private schools during the tenure of the previous YSR Congress Party government. Against that backdrop, he said the return of 1.10 lakh students to government schools reflected the changes being made by the current administration.
Lokesh said the government had focused on improving government schools, recruiting teachers and strengthening learning outcomes. As part of this effort, 16,000 teachers had been recruited, trained and deployed, he said.
“Now our teachers are very motivated,” he said, adding that the government had also worked to restore the dignity of teachers.
He had earlier said he chose the education portfolio because he wanted to contribute to society “at scale”, citing his Stanford MBA background.
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