HRD Minister Lokesh calls for complete overhaul of higher education curriculum in Andhra Pradesh

Minister for Human Resource Development Nara Lokesh has directed officials to formulate a Unified Act to streamline administration across public universities in the State.

Speaking at a review meeting with officials of higher, Intermediate and vocational education wings on Wednesday (November 5, 2025), Mr. Lokesh expressed concern that engineering graduates remain unemployed despite four years of study, while short-term coaching in Ameerpet yields jobs. He called for a complete overhaul of the higher education curriculum.

The Minister instructed the officials to link ITIs and universities with industries by November-end and to integrate private colleges also with the Skills Portal to ensure campus placement guarantees. He said facial-recognition attendance must be made mandatory in colleges and wanted a comprehensive KG-to-PG student tracking system to be developed and asked officials to work on improving NIRF rankings.

He also discussed the issues of faculty vacancies, Samarth eGov initiative and the status of placements in universities, ITIs, and IIITs and directed the officials to ensure 100% campus placements and introduce a student feedback mechanism in all universities.

In the Intermediate Education, he wanted the officials to take steps to increase pass percentages. Officials briefed him about reforms such as weekly tests and a tracking system. The Minister also reviewed the Akshara Andhra literacy program, whose target for the year is to make 25 lakh people literate, with work already underway. Issues related to private universities were also discussed

Secretary, Human Resources Department, Kona Shashidhar, Chairman of the Higher Education Council K. Madhumurthy and Director of Collegiate Education Narayana Bharat Gupta among others attended the meeting.

Youth employment

In a separate meeting with officials of the Skill Development Corporation, the Minister informed that since the new government took office, 78,000 young people in Andhra Pradesh had been employed through 406 job fairs held across 175 constituencies.

Emphasising the need for more industry participation in job fairs and for training students in digital and AI technologies to meet global demands, Mr. Lokesh directed the officials to update ITI and Polytechnic curricula to match industry needs and to build partnerships with international organisations for skill development.

Officials informed him that Polytechnic colleges had recorded a placement rate of over 94%, while it was 98% for ITI graduates. They said 30 industry-linked courses had been introduced and 1.22 lakh youth were being given training through the Model Career Centers.

The Minister said plans were also in progress to introduce foreign language training for overseas employment and establishment of a NAAC Center in Mangalagiri in Guntur district.