Andhra Pradesh Education Secretary Kona Sasidhar announced on October 24, that the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-led state government will revamp its education system and will no longer be purchasing tablets from BYJU'S, a prominent EdTech company in India.
According to an exclusive by The News Minute (TNM), the students were provided with tablets that were pre-loaded with educational content from BYJU'S and Interactive Flat Panels (IFPs) were installed in the classrooms of government schools.
New gov't to reform existing pedagogy
Presently, the government is planning to redesign the education model, with an improved pedagogy that will include computer labs with Personalised Adaptive Learning (PAL) methodology in schools, he told TNM.
However, the secretary clarified that the Andhra Pradesh government will not replace the services of BYJU'S with another EdTech company.
Former CM's policies under review
In July 2022, former Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy signed an agreement with BYJU'S to provide tablets to students from Class VIII to Class X, aiming to align government school education with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) standards by 2025 and prepare students for the CBSE Board exams.
TNM reported that the current education ministry, led by Andhra Pradesh Human Resources Minister Nara Lokesh, has criticised the former government's education policies.
In addition to halting BYJU'S content, the government is investigating the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party's (YSRCP) Nadu Nedu scheme, which is aimed at enhancing learning outcomes, reducing dropout rates, and upgrading school infrastructure.