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Frontlist | Andhra Pradesh govt in mission mode for total revamp of school education

Frontlist | Andhra Pradesh govt in mission mode for total revamp of school education
on Mar 16, 2021

The government of Andhra Pradesh has plans of introducing several new policies to revamp school education in the state. The YS Jaganmohan Reddy lead government in Andhra Pradesh is consistently pushing to promote the English language in dictionary form as part of ‘Student Kits’ The officials of the education department of Andhra Pradesh said that English Medium instruction in government-managed schools across the State is their priority while efforts are also being made to rein in the dropout rate and give an impetus to learning outcomes gathering momentum.

The government of Andhra Pradesh, in an effort to transform the school education system of the state, has also planned to introduce bridge courses (Varadhi I & Varadhi II) for students who are switching over to the English medium for instructions.

Apart from the introduction of English as a medium of instruction in schools across the state, the government also has plans to introduce the CBSE board in government schools in Andhra Pradesh to make the curriculum more diverse for students.

New textbooks for classes 1 to 7

The government of Andhra Pradesh is currently facing criticism from opposition parties for introducing English in schools and not putting more prominence on Telugu as a medium of education in the state. The government, while responding to the criticism, claimed, “93.88% of Parents Committees opt for English medium instruction in Government schools. 96.17% of parents opt for English Medium instruction in the opinion poll.”

The education department informed that the Academic Advisory Board is currently developing new textbooks from Classes 1 to 7 in English medium. The YS Jagan government, which is firm on English push, has decided to deploy senior-level IAS officers as Special Officer to implement the English Medium project across schools.

It also roped in Premier institutes like RIE and EFLU for redesigning textbooks for Classes 1 to 6 in Andhra Pradesh schools, making education more uniform and accessible. The government has rejected the opposition's claim of ignoring the mother tongue and said that it ‘’continues to implement Telugu as a compulsory subject in all schools. Semester wise bilingual textbooks from Classes 1 to 6 already developed for the academic year 2020-21 and class 7 under development.’’