Visakhapatnam: Students in State-run schools to flip thru bilingual textbooks

Visakhapatnam: This academic year, students from Classes I to VI will flip through bilingual textbooks as the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) has taken a big leap forward to ease the learning process.

With the state government keen on bringing a paradigm shift in education, the introduction of the bilingual textbooks for non-language subjects in state-run schools is a step towards it. This is the first time, the officials concerned say, the Andhra Pradesh government has come up with a bilingual curriculum. The endeavour intends to benefit more than 6 lakh students studying in 32,000 government-run schools across the state.

Non-language subjects such as Mathematics and Environmental Science at primary school-level and Mathematics, Science and Social Studies for Class VI will now be in English and Telugu languages. Currently, the bilingual textbooks are in the printing stage. "They will be given to students as a part of the Jagananna Vidya Kanuka educational kits and the distribution process is likely to get wrapped up by August 3. The bilingual curriculum aids in putting teachers, parents and students at ease to improve learning outcomes as they can always refer to the regional content just in case of any clarification," explains an SCERT official. Having lost three months of the academic year in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the new curriculum will see a 30 per cent cut to help the students cope with the missed school days and also reduce the burden of absorbing the vast portions in a short time. Apparently, the last few chapters of the subjects are likely to get omitted from the curriculum, the education department officials say. Soon, an e-book portal will be launched by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy wherein the curriculum will be uploaded and the students can access the digital content as well.