The central government, the government of Andhra Pradesh and the World Bank has entered an agreement to sign a 250 million dollar project that aims at bettering the quality of education for students in Andhra Pradesh.

Among the several target areas, the project will introduce a one-year pre-school level course in 3,500 schools in the tribal blocks that will address the issue of low learning levels among the community. The project is in line with the vision of the Andhra Pradesh government that is looking at fulfilling its vision of transforming government schools into vibrant institutions focused on foundational learning for young children, including addressing learning losses for children impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The move is said to benefit over 50 lakh students from Andhra Pradesh. Beneficiaries include 40 lakh students aged between 6 and 14 in over 45,000 government schools and over 10 lakh students between the age groups of 3 and 6. Besides, 1,90,000 teachers and more than 50,000 Anganwadi workers are also set to benefit from the project.

“With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, home-based learning opportunities for students are of top priority for the state. Given the low availability of digital devices amongst students, the focus will be on developing physical learning kits and content for television and radio broadcasts. It will help in reducing the learning losses that children are likely to face due to school closures because of the ongoing pandemic, future natural disasters, or other disruptions related to climate change,” the official statement adds.

Source: Hindustan Times