A.P. Open School Society was established as an autonomous
society registered under the Andhra Pradesh Public Societies Act on 20th of
February 1991 and inaugurated on the ‘Ugadi Day’, the 17th of March 1991, vide
G.O. Ms. No.50 Edn. (SSE-2) Department, dt: 08.02.1991. It is the first State
Open School in the country. The main objectives of APOSS, at the time of its
inception have been
To
provide pre-elementary Education through Open and Distance Learning (ODL) mode
to School drop-outs and those missing Upper Primary stage of education and to
attain Universalization of Elementary Education (UEE) in the State.
To
provide continuing education for adult neo-literates, working men and women to
reinforce their functional literacy and not to allow them to relapse into
illiteracy.
The Hon’ble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh is the Chief
Patron and the Hon’ble Education Minister of Andhra Pradesh is the Patron of
A.P. Open School Society. It has a General Body and an Executive Board at the
State Level for which the Chief Secretary to the Government of Andhra Pradesh
is the Chairman. There are District level committees in the Districts with
District Collector as Chairman and District Educational Officer as
Member-Secretary for implementation of the scheme.
On Open and Distance Learning (ODL) the model of National
Open School (NOS) was studied carefully and adapted to meet the needs of the
learners of Andhra Pradesh. Initially, it was started in five districts viz.,
(1) Nellore, (2) Chittoor, (3) Nizamabad, (4) Medak and (5) Visakhapatnam, with
the financial assistance of Government of Andhra Pradesh.
In the Second phase, during 1994-95, it was extended to
another nine districts viz., (1) Srikakulam, (2) Vizianagaram, (3) Prakasam,
(4) Ananthapur, (5) Kurnool, (6) Cuddapah, (7) Mahaboobnagar, (8) Warangal and
(9) Ranga Reddy, with the financial assistance of Department of Non-formal Education,
MHRD, Government of India, New Delhi.
In the third phase, during 1996-97, it was further extended
to the remaining nine districts of the state viz., (1) Krishna, (2) Guntur, (3)
Khammam, (4) Nalgonda, (5) Adilabad, (6) Karimnagar, (7) Hyderabad, (8) West
Godavari and (9) East Godavari, with the financial assistance of Department of
Adult Education, MHRD, Government of India, New Delhi.
While the Open Learning scheme is in implementation at Upper
Primary level in all the districts of the state, during 1997-98, the APOSS has
formulated Open Basic Education (OBE) Scheme through which a Bridge Course was
introduced as a pilot project, to the drop-outs of classes III & IV and to
the adult neo-literates who were covered under Total Literacy Campaign (TLC)/Post
Literacy Campaign (PLC) programmes of Adult Education Department, in five
districts viz., Visakhapatnam, Nellore, Chittoor, Nizamabad and Karimnagar with
the financial assistance of Department of Adult Education, MHRD, Government of
India (GOI), New Delhi.
Similarly, during 1997-98, at Upper Primary level Urdu
medium centres are opened under Open Learning Scheme in Hyderabad for the
benefit of the Urdu clientele, with the financial assistance of Municipal
Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH), under Indian Population Project (IPP).
But, these projects were closed down after expiry of the
stipulated project periods, sanctioned by MHRD, GOI, New Delhi and IPP and as
such the Open Learning Scheme at Upper Primary Level in Telugu and Urdu media
have been continued in the State with the financial assistance of Government of
Andhra Pradesh.
As part of expansion of the scheme, the APOSS has introduced
classes VIII & IX during the academic years 2001-02 and 2002-03
respectively with the financial assistance of Government of Andhra Pradesh,
vide G.O. Rt. No. 485 Edn.(Prog.II-1) Dept., dt: 08.08.2001.
About 9 lakh learners are enrolled at Upper Primary and
Secondary level (up to Class IX) from 1991-92 to 2007-08 and nearly 4.6 lakh
learners have successfully completed the course.
