Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday claimed that the 'Jagananna Amma Vodi' scheme and other revolutionary measures taken by the government has improved enrolment in government schools during the last three years.
The number of students in government schools has gone up by over 7 lakh from 37.21 lakh in 2018-19 to 44.30 lakh students in 2021-22.He claimed that the revolutionary steps have come a long way in transforming the lives of millions of families.
He said this while speaking in Srikakulam district after disbursing the financial assistance of Rs 6,595 crore.He credited the financial assistance of Rs 15,000 under the scheme into bank accounts of 40 lakh mothers of school children studying between Classes 1 and 12.
"In the years to come, Amma Vodi will be seen as a path breaking initiative in the realm of education by any government in the country," he said adding that for the third consecutive year, the state government has disbursed the financial assistance.
The Amma Vodi scheme gives a school-going child's mother Rs 15,000 per year for educational expenditure. Out of Rs 15,000 financial assistance, the government would use Rs 2,000 for the use of the School Maintenance Fund (SMF) and Toilet Maintenance Fund (TMF).
"Mothers sacrifice everything for their children. I have seen their sacrifices during my padayatra. They very much wish to educate their children but could not do so because of their financial constraints. To remove this friction, I wanted to bring out this scheme to help mothers send their children to schools," CM Jagan said.
So far, the government has spent Rs 19,617.53 crore on Amma Vodi scheme, benefitting 44.50 lakh mothers and 82.31 lakh children.To ensure that the funds are used judiciously, the government decided to implement mandatory attendance of 75 per cent for students.
The government exempted students from 75 per cent attendance in 2019-20 and 2021-22 due to the pandemic. Besides depositing money directly into mothers' accounts, the scheme empowers mothers with the right to question the college management and demand accountability.
During the last three months, the YSRCP government has spent Rs 52,600 crore on education. This includes Rs 19,617 crore on Jagananna Amma Vodi, Rs 11,007 crore on Jagananna Vidya Deevena & Vasathi Deevena, Rs 2,324 crore on Jagananna Vidya Kanuka, Rs 3,087 crore on Jagananna Gorumudda, Rs 11,669 crore on Mana-Badi Nadu-Nedu and Rs 4,895 crore on YSR Sampoorna Poshana.
The chief minister hopes that with these schemes and introduction of English medium with CBSE curriculum will fulfill the dream of every student to complete their education and become capable of competing at the global level.
"We have also entered an MoU with BYJUs, an ed-tech company to provide quality-oriented content for the government school students from 4th to 10th standard," he added.