Andhra Pradesh has revised its Class 1 and 2 school textbooks to change how household work is represented, with men and women now shown sharing domestic responsibilities, Human Resources Development Minister Nara Lokesh said.
Speaking at a Public Affairs Forum of India event in Delhi on Thursday, Lokesh said the earlier textbooks showed household chores as being performed entirely by women. The revised books show 50 per cent of the household chores being performed by men and 50 per cent by women, he said.
“Textbooks for Classes 1 and 2 earlier depicted household chores as being performed entirely by women. The state has changed this approach so that 50 per cent of the household chores shown are performed by men and 50 per cent by women,” Lokesh said.
He said the change was intended to prevent gender stereotypes from being reinforced among children from an early age.
The textbook revision is part of a wider set of school education changes outlined by Lokesh, including practical learning, technology use and curriculum reviews.
No Bag Day and AI lessons
Lokesh said Saturdays are being observed as “No Bag Day” in Andhra Pradesh schools, with students taking part in activities outside regular classroom learning.
These include lessons on managing family and agricultural budgets, field visits and introductory lessons on artificial intelligence.
“Students are being introduced to both the positive and negative sides of AI so they can understand the technology and use it effectively in their chosen fields,” he said.
The state is also preparing an AI Tutor programme. It was reported in June that a pre-pilot was planned for 175 LEAP schools, initially covering Mathematics and Science for Classes 9 and 10. The government has also been considering integrating the AI Tutor with a proposed classroom clicker system.
Proposed interactive classrooms
Lokesh said the state is looking at a classroom model in which a 45-minute lesson is followed by a 60- or 90-second video summary and four to five questions.
Students would answer using clicker devices, with the responses feeding into the state's Learning Management System.
The system, he said, could identify individual learning gaps and provide targeted homework and learning material through the state's LE app.
He gave the example of a student who performs well in mathematics but has difficulty with probability. The system would identify that specific gap and provide additional material, he said.
The government has already completed two rounds of curriculum improvement, according to Lokesh. He said further changes would be made gradually, with reforms introduced grade by grade.
The changes in gender representation in textbooks also follows earlier work on reviewing Andhra Pradesh's school curriculum. A 2025 policy brief examining state textbooks found gender roles in some examples and illustrations and recommended greater representation of girls and people in non-traditional roles.
Lokesh had also raised the issue of gender stereotypes in July 2025, pointing to Class 1 and 2 textbooks that depicted women doing household work while men read newspapers.