At the two-day Global Investment Summit held in Andhra Pradesh earlier this year, Indian and foreign companies signed 352 MOUs worth INR 13.5 trillion with the potential to create more than 600,000 jobs. . Last year, the state was ranked first in the NITI Aayog Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) ranking. Leveraging a proactive pro-industry approach, the state is currently working with private companies to provide public school education to ensure that the majority of jobs created in areas such as information technology and ports go to public school students. are renovating their education.
This is not simply a stated intent. The plan was outlined in a government order of 11 July. State governments are using Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Large Language Models (LLM), Data Analytics, Web 3.0, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Internet of Things, Central Bank Digital Currency, 3D Printing, and even up to the game.
A high-level committee set up by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Chief Minister of the ruling YSR parliament, to determine and finalize the curriculum and related infrastructure included representatives of leading private companies. This includes Ashutosh Chadha, Director and Country Head (Government and Public Policy) at Microsoft; Shalini Kapoor, President and Chief Technologist at Amazon Web Services India; Senior Director, Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) at Intel; Mr. Shweta Khurana of , and country representatives. Nascom, etc. A senior government official told Business Standard that the state is exploring partnerships with such private companies.
“These private players plan long-term engagements. We will introduce skill sets related to new generation technology, enabling students studying in public schools in Andhra Pradesh to enter the workforce before their competitors. I wanted to do it like this,” said Praveen Prakash, Principal Secretary for School Education in Andhra Pradesh. In the state he has 44,512 public schools. Notably, it is the first time the state has reserved 75 percent of its private sector jobs for local residents, responding to criticism that it makes it difficult for private investors to access skilled labor. It seems that
As a first step, the state is focusing on improving students’ English proficiency. To this end, on June 23, the state signed an agreement with the U.S.-based Educational Testing Service (ETS) to prepare students in classes III through IX for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Trained to acquire skills. Teachers are sent to the United States to acquire professional teaching skills. By one estimate, this would benefit about 3 million students in public schools, including 1,245,191 in primary and 1,756,566 in secondary.
This comes after the state began rolling out Byju’s audiovisual bilingual content for students in all schools of science, social sciences and mathematics. Last year, the state provided 5,18,740 individual tabs to Class VIII students for enhanced learning with Byju’s apps and preloaded content. “There are 400,000 to 450,000 students in Class VIII in Andhra Pradesh every year. Every year, we will give tabs to the students in this class,” Prakash added. Media reports said Byju’s was offering state-run content worth around Rs 778 crore for free.
This year, the government will also upgrade school learning infrastructure by installing 30,213 interactive flat panels (IFPs) in high schools and 10,038 smart TVs in primary schools under its flagship Nadu Nedu program. and aim to digitize. The program is expected to be completed by the end of December. This new initiative is a continuation of measures such as the introduction of English as a medium of instruction in all public schools in 2019-20, benefiting approximately 4.1 million students.
However, the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has expressed concern over the involvement of the deficit Byju in government projects and the emphasis on English. Byju’s is under the scrutiny of the Department of Business Affairs after the auditors of Byju’s parent company, Think and Learn, Deloitte Haskins and Sells Llp, and three directors resigned. Byju’s has reported a loss of over Rs 450 crore in its 21st fiscal year and is still in the process of reporting its 22nd fiscal year.
“State governments are against teaching in their mother tongue, which would help students from poor backgrounds to better understand their subject. Will they be dependent on a company that suffers from harassment,” TDP MLA senior Dora Sree Bala Veeranjaneya Swamy told Business Standard.
Earlier, TDP raised the issue of sourcing the Samsung T220 lite tablet. TDP had claimed that this was sold on the online shopping platform for around Rs 11,999 while the states spent around Rs 13,262 on their respective platforms. They said the Ministry of Schools and Education said the deal would bring the total cost of the tablet, 3-year warranty and battery, 3-year mobile device management, OTG cable, flip cover and 64GB memory card to Rs 187 million. He argued that he was saving money. 12,843 per unit against the market price of Rs 16,446 per unit.
In contrast, industry experts are more open to private sector cooperation, pointing out that the introduction of AI and ChatGPT into the curriculum requires further consideration. “Collaboration is the need of the day. Governments are not in the business of producing technical content. Maheshwar Peri, founder of Careers360, a career counseling and education services company.
He added that the introduction of new subjects requires further discussion. Tools like ChatGPT should not be used for “cheating”. “We should discuss at what level and to what extent it should be introduced. If students start asking ChatGPT and answering questions, it will not help,” Peri added.
No matter what the opposition thinks, the students are happy too. “In addition to tabs for students, we now have digital classrooms with interactive panels that allow us to follow our lessons on a big screen. I am now looking forward to my TOEFL classes,” said Lohisa K, a Class VIII student at Jira Parishad High School in Penamaruru.
Given the large number of schools involved, the state government’s biggest challenge may be efficient implementation.
Source link
