Education Department in the Andhra Pradesh is one of the largest departments among 200 departments in state. The Education System is divided in to Primary, Secondary, Higher Education in AP. The school education focuses on the primary, secondary education and training of teachers. Where higher education handles education at the different levels in the state. Higher education concentrates on the college education, technical education and universities.
According to the 2011 census, AP has an overall literacy of 67.35% which is less than the overall national average. In the literacy rate, Andhra Pradesh stands at 32nd position. The Education in AP is communicated through both government and private institutions. The state has 633 government schools and more than 16000 private schools.
Andhra Pradesh Education System
Different levels of AP Education System are Pre-primary, Primary, Elementary, Secondary Education, Undergraduate and Postgraduate level. Pre-primary and elementary comes under foundation level i.e basic level. After completing their schooling, students will do Intermediate or diploma which is secondary level. To join in diploma colleges, you have to qualify in AP POLYCET which is conducted by the State Board of Technical Education and Training. Likewise, to join in any undergraduate or post graduate courses, Entrance Exams like EAMCET, LAWCET, PGECET, others are necessary. All these CET exams are conducted by APSCHE (Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education).
The state is having a total of 53 universities and more than 500 colleges for degree in any stream. Andhra University of state is among the top 20 universities in India. To improve the literacy rate in AP, the government is implementing several schemes such as Amma Vodi, Jagananna Vidya Deevana, and Jagananna Vasathi Deevana.
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School Education in Andhra Pradesh
The education standards and quality regulates by the State Council of Education, Research and Training, Andhra Pradesh in all government and private schools. The primary and secondary education is provided by the private as well as govt schools. The first five years period of schooling comes under primary level, other level is secondary. AP Education is 10+2 pattern till now. However, this pattern will change to 5+3+3+4 as per the new education policy. Among 13 districts, East Godavari and Chittor having the maximum number of schools.
The medium in schooling is Telugu and English mostly. To increase the student count in govt schools, AP government introduced English medium in government schools. Due to launch of various policies and schemes, the literacy rate is increased over the past few years. Schools in AP are affiliated to State Board/ Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) or ICSE. Sarva Shiksha Abhigyan, a prestigious government project to give the free education to the drop outs. The famous schools in AP are along the lines:
- Sree Vidyanikethan International School, Tirupati
- Sree Swaminarayan Gurukul International School
- Indian High School, Vishakapatnam
- John’s High School, Amalapuram
- Delhi Public School, Visakhapatnam
Boarding Schools in AP
- Rishi Valley School
- Gurukula Patasala
- Sri Sathya Sai Higher Secondary School
- Vijnana Vihara
- The Peepal Grove School
- Hamsavahini Vidyalaya
- Andhra Pradesh Residential School, Tadikonda
- Sree Vidyanikethan International School, Tirupati
About Common Entrance Exams
Every student who wants to appear their higher education such as diploma, under graduation or post graduation in Andhra Pradesh should clear the CET exam. Every year, APSCHE conducts the various CET exams. They are EAMCET, LAWCET, ECET, EdCET, ICET, PGECET, PECET. Without writing any of these CET exams one can join in degree college only. For all other courses, people have to write the CET exam.
| Exam Name | Conducting University Name | Qualification | Course Name |
| EAMCET | Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Kakinada | 12th Class | For Medical and Engineering in various courses |
| LAWCET | Sri Krishnadevaraya University | Intermediate/ degree/ PG | LLB and LLM courses |
| EdCET | Andhra University, Visakhapatnam | B.A./B.Sc./ B.Com./ B.C.A./B.B.M | B.Ed |
| ECET | JNTU, Ananthapur | Diploma/ BSc Mathematics | B.E/ B.Tech |
| ICET | Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati | Degree/ Under Graduation | MBA & MCA |
| PGECET | Andhra University, Visakhapatnam | Degree/ Under Graduation | M.TECH & other PG courses |
| PECET | Aacharya Nagarjuna University, Guntur | Intermediate | D.P.Ed, B.P.Ed |
Higher Education in Andhra Pradesh
The higher education in AP is vast with number of universities, autonomous colleges, degree colleges and professional colleges. Apart from courses in conventional areas like arts, science, commerce, and courses in professional areas such as engineering, pharmacy, medicine, management, hotel management, etc. The top universities are:
- Andhra University
- Sri Venkateswara University
- Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation University
- Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management
- Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning
- Vignan’s Foundation for Science, Technology and Research
Universities in AP
Andhra Pradesh State has 53 universities. There are 3 central universities, 24 state universities, 3 private universities and 5 deemed universities. Some of the university names are given here:
- Central University of Andhra Pradesh
- Indian Culinary Institute, Tirupati
- Acharya Nagarjuna University
- Sri Venkateswara Vedic University
Through all these universities, government schools and private schools, colleges the quality of Education in Andhra Pradesh is improving day by day. So that, there is an improvement in the literacy rate. Education Minister of AP, Mr Srinivas Rao is also trying to get the ranked 1 in literacy rate in India.