AP: CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy distributes tabs to Class 8 students in Chintapalle

Alluri Sitharama Raju (Andhra Pradesh) [India]: Celebrating his birthday in the tribal region with students, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy formally launched the distribution of tabs to Class 8 students in the Chintapalle town of Alluri Sitharama Raju district on Thursday.

Addressing a large public meeting of schoolchildren and their parents, the Chief Minister said that the children are our future and the Government has been spending huge amounts on educational reforms to turn the students into global products.

“The distribution of tabs, worth Rs 620 crore to 4,34,285 students, will take place for the next ten days across the State and MLAs, school teachers and Education Department officials will oversee the distribution in every mandal,” said the CM.

He said that each tab is worth Rs 33,000 including Byju’s content worth Rs 15, 500 and reiterated that investment in education is a productive investment in future human resources.

The study material-loaded tabs would guide the students as tutors and change their future for good.

The tabs would contain useful applications like AI (Artificial Intelligence)-aided doubt-clearance and learning foreign languages apps, he said, stating that they would work like teachers and help students improve their knowledge.

Dismissing reports that the students are going astray with the tabs, CM Reddy said that parents would be able to track the way they are used by their children.

This is the second consecutive year that the tabs are being distributed to the students of class 8, and so far, the Government has distributed 9,52,925 tabs worth Rs 1,306 crore.

The Chief Minister also said that the distribution of tabs is also one of the programmes taken up as part of reforms being implemented in the educational sector aiming at improving the standards of students and making them globally acceptable products with knowledge of emerging technologies.

The digitalisation of 62,097 classrooms from class 6 and above would be completed by the end of January and it would help students become the best in the world, he said, observing that the facade of education and the job market would change in the next 20 years.

In tune with the changing world, the Government will introduce future skills like training for students of classes 8 and above from next academic year so that they will learn advanced subjects like Cyber security, virtual reality, AI, machine learning, augmented reality and data and robotic analytics along with IB (International Baccalaureate) syllabus and efforts are on to appoint tutors and train them.

“With TOEFL training being given to students from class 3 onwards, the introduction of bilingual textbooks and more and more students joining English medium schools, Government schools are competing with corporate schools,” he said.

“Pro-educational welfare schemes like Jagananna Vidya Deevena, Amma Vodi and Vasathi Deevena are also giving desired results,” he added.

Chief Minister Reddy also agreed to sanction funds for the local development works as sought by the MLA Bhagya Lakshmi.