Andhra Pradesh Rajya Sabha MP Vijaysai Reddy on Friday, October 25, criticised the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) led state government’s decision to discontinue the educational tablets provided under the previous YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government’s term. The MP’s statements came after TNM reported that TDP was pulling the brakes on the agreement signed between ed-tech company Byju's and the previous YSRCP government.

The tablets were introduced in 2022 by former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.

“The decision to discontinue ex-CM @ysjagan garu’s scheme of providing tablets with preloaded educational content to students from classes 8-10 is anti-student. These tablets were crucial in bridging the digital divide between rural and urban students, aiming to align government school education with CBSE standards by 2025,” Vijaysai Reddy said.

The incumbent Education secretary Kona Sasidhar told TNM on Thursday, October 24 that the discontinuation of tablets was part of the TDP government’s attempts to re-examine the education model. 

“The previous government provided preloaded Byju’s content in the tablets given to students and installed Interactive Flat Panels (IFPs) in the classrooms in government schools. We are redesigning the pedagogy, which will include computer labs with Personalised Adaptive Learning (PAL) methodology in schools,” he said.

Former chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy inked an agreement with Byju’s in July 2022, under which students from classes 8-10 were given tablets to enhance digital learning. The aim, the former chief minister had said, was to ensure that government school training is equal to CBSE training by 2025, and that students are fully prepared for the 2025 CBSE board exam.

Also Read: Andhra Pradesh government will not be procuring any more Byju’s tablets