University faculty recruitment to be completed by April 2027: Nara Lokesh

Minister for Human Resource Development (HRD) Nara Lokesh on Saturday said the government would complete the recruitment of university faculty, including Professors, Associate Professors and Assistant Professors, by April next year.Speaking at the State-level Best Teacher Awards ceremony in Vijayawada, Mr. Lokesh said the government would conduct the next three District Selection Committee (DSC) teacher recruitment examinations with the same transparency as the first one.He highlighted the record of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, saying that 14 DSC examinations conducted during his tenure had resulted in the recruitment of nearly two lakh teachers. After becoming Chief Minister for the fourth time, Mr. Naidu’s first signature was on the DSC file, he said.Describing teaching as a sacred responsibility, Mr. Lokesh said children spent more time with teachers than at home and learnt values, education and discipline from them. He cited A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s teacher Sivasubramania Iyer as an example of how practical teaching could inspire extraordinary achievements.The Minister said the government had expanded the “One Class-One Teacher” model to 10,000 primary schools, cancelled GO 117, filled 16,000 teacher vacancies through Mega DSC, introduced a Teacher Transfer Act and seniority lists, revised the curriculum and launched the LEAP app to address teachers’ service-related matters.He said 1.10 lakh students had shifted from private schools to government schools this year, attributing the trend largely to the efforts of teachers. The government was also developing LEAP Model Schools and planned to establish such schools in every constituency, he said.Mr. Lokesh said school education reforms had largely been completed and that the government was now focusing on higher education and universities. A unified university law was planned, while universities would be integrated with emerging sectors such as space, drones, aquaculture, pharmaceuticals and data centres, besides other industrial clusters, he said.The government was making universities more research-oriented, with politically neutral appointments of Vice-Chancellors and stronger academic calendars, he said.Mr. Lokesh said the government’s goal was to make Andhra Pradesh the No. 1 State in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) rankings. He also urged teachers to pay close attention to students’ mental well-being, saying every child’s emotional state should be taken seriously. Failure, he said, should be viewed as a learning opportunity rather than the end of a student’s future.Referring to “No Admission” boards displayed at some government schools, he said they showed that the reforms were beginning to produce results. The government would continue reviewing university courses, removing outdated programmes and introducing courses aligned with modern technologies and industry needs, he said. Published - September 05, 2026 09:13 pm IST