AP IT and Education Minister Nara Lokesh met former British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the Taj Palace in Delhi on Thursday and discussed various issues. When Lokesh met Tony Blair in Mumbai in July last year, he agreed to cooperate through the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) to use AI tools in the Andhra Pradesh government’s activities and education system.
To that end, an agreement was signed between the AP Education Department and TBI in December 2024 to improve employment opportunities for youth by implementing advanced technology in the education sector. As part of this, TBI has set up its embedded team in Vijayawada and is focusing on developing two main areas.
One of them is reforms in Andhra Pradesh higher education and the second is the establishment of a Global Institute for Good Governance. Tony Blair and Lokesh met today to review the progress made since the agreement was signed. They discussed the technical support of TBI in the skill development agenda being implemented in the state, skill census, and employment of youth outside the country.
On this occasion, Minister Lokesh invited Tony Blair to join the advisory board of the Global Institute for Good Governance. An agreement was signed between the Andhra Pradesh government and the Tony Blair Institute on skill training issues and cooperation in the establishment of the Global Institute of Good Governance.
A statement was released stating that Tony Blair had said that TBI will be a partner in the conclave of state education ministers to be held in Visakhapatnam in August. Education Secretary Kona Shashidhar and TBI representatives participated in the meeting.
Earlier, Lokesh met Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya. He requested for cooperation in the construction of a sports city in Amaravati and to help transform AP into a sports hub. Lokesh appealed to Mandaviya to approve Andhra Pradesh’s proposals for 39 projects worth Rs. 341.57 crore as part of the creation of sports infrastructure.
