Andhra Pradesh to Complete University Faculty Recruitment by April 2027: Nara Lokesh

VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh's universities now have a date to circle on the calendar. Human Resource Development Minister Nara Lokesh said on Saturday that the government will complete the recruitment of university faculty — including Professors, Associate Professors and Assistant Professors — by April 2027.

He made the commitment at the State-level Best Teacher Awards ceremony here, using the stage to signal a shift: with school reforms largely in place, the government's full attention is turning to higher education.

A recruitment record he was happy to revisit

Mr. Lokesh promised that the next three District Selection Committee (DSC) teacher recruitment examinations would match the transparency of the first. He leaned on Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu's record — 14 DSC examinations during his tenure produced nearly two lakh teacher recruitments — and noted that after becoming Chief Minister for the fourth time, Mr. Naidu's first signature was on the DSC file.

Schools first, with numbers to show for it

Before turning to universities, the Minister took stock of schools. The government, he said, has 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 for teachers' service-related matters.

The payoff, he argued, is visible. As many as 1.10 lakh students moved from private schools to government schools this year — a trend he credited largely to teachers. Some government schools now display "No Admission" boards, which he called early proof that the reforms are working. LEAP Model Schools are being developed, with one planned in every constituency.

Universities in the spotlight

With school education reforms largely completed, Mr. Lokesh said the focus is now on higher education. A unified university law is planned, and universities will be integrated with emerging sectors such as space, drones, aquaculture, pharmaceuticals and data centres, besides other industrial clusters. Vice-Chancellor appointments will be politically neutral, academic calendars stronger and research central. Courses will be reviewed continually — outdated programmes removed, industry-aligned ones introduced — all in service of one target: topping the NIRF rankings.

A quieter word on mental well-being

Calling teaching a sacred responsibility, Mr. Lokesh reminded the gathering that children spend more time with teachers than at home, learning values, education and discipline from them. He cited A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's teacher Sivasubramania Iyer as proof of how practical teaching can inspire extraordinary achievement. And he urged teachers to take every child's emotional state seriously — failure, he said, should be treated as a learning opportunity, not the end of a student's future.