A team of 10 students from various government schools in Andhra Pradesh took part in the two-day United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (UNSDG) summit held at UN headquarters in New York on Monday and Tuesday, to showcase the reforms in the education sector introduced by the state government.
An official statement by the state education department said on Tuesday that it was for the first time that the students, belonging to underprivileged and poor sections of the state, got an opportunity to interact with world-class academics and professors of various universities.
The team of students includes eight girls and two boys, namely: M Sivalingamma from AP Social Welfare Residential School, Kurnool, M Chandralekha from Navodaya School, G Ganesh, Anjana Sai, P Gayathri and V Yogeswari from IIIT-Nuzvid, D Jyotsna from Dr BR Ambedkar Gurukul School, C Rajeswari and Shaik Ammajan from IIIT-Idupulapaya campus and P Manaswini from Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya, GL Puram.
State education minister Botsa Satyanarayana, in a statement, said all the students come from very humble backgrounds. “The parents of some of these children are daily wage workers, while some work as auto drivers, mechanics, security guards and lorry drivers,” he said.
Apart from speaking about sustainable development, each student spoke briefly about the educational reforms being undertaken by the Andhra Pradesh government, like Naadu Nedu, Jagananna Ammavodi, Jagananna Vidya Kanuka, Jagananna Vidya Deevena and Jagananna Vasathi Deevena. “The students elaborated on how the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government has transformed the education sector by introducing bilingual textbooks, tablets, digital classrooms, English education and curriculum reforms,” the official note said.
{{/usCountry}}Apart from speaking about sustainable development, each student spoke briefly about the educational reforms being undertaken by the Andhra Pradesh government, like Naadu Nedu, Jagananna Ammavodi, Jagananna Vidya Kanuka, Jagananna Vidya Deevena and Jagananna Vasathi Deevena. “The students elaborated on how the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government has transformed the education sector by introducing bilingual textbooks, tablets, digital classrooms, English education and curriculum reforms,” the official note said.
{{/usCountry}}The students, who landed in the US on September 15, would stay there till September 28. They would be attending seminars and holding discussions at esteemed institutions like United Nations, World Bank, US Department of State and Columbia University, the official note said, adding that as a goodwill gesture, they were also invited to visit the White House at Washington DC.
The statement said the main objective of this international tour is to give meritorious children from Andhra Pradesh a global platform to learn, discuss and express their knowledge and share new ideas with the world.
“This will instil confidence in these children and foster their ability to speak with clarity and conviction in large meetings on aspects of development,” the note, quoting the state education department authorities, said.