Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan now wants CBSE syllabus for government schools in the state

Reddy's earlier move to convert the medium of teaching in all the government schools from Telugu to English attracted disapproval from various quarters

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy has stated that his government will implement the CBSE system in state-run schools for Classes 1 to 7 from the next academic year.

In a meeting on the school education sector on Wednesday in Amaravati, the CM further said that the central board prescribed education format would be gradually expanded to the later grades, to bring all the classes up to the 10th standard under the CBSE by 2024.

Reddy had earlier decided to convert the medium of teaching in all the government schools from Telugu to English, a move that attracted disapproval from academics to politicians like TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, Jana Sena's Pawan Kalyan and even vice-president of India M Venkaiah Naidu, who advocated teaching in the mother tongue. The matter also reached the Supreme Court.

According to the YSRCP government’s original plans, classes 1 to 6 had to switch to English medium from the 2020-21 academic year, and 7th to 10th added gradually in the next four years.

There are 44,512 government schools in the state, with Telugu as the primary language. After the transformation, Telugu would remain only as a compulsory subject in every class.

As to what prompted the decision now to change the board too and thereby the syllabus etc is not clear.

“We are working out the modalities and would come out with the details later,” V Chinaveerabhadrudu, AP' school education commissioner told DH.

All the government schools in Andhra Pradesh are as of now following the state board education system, with the curricula, syllabi, instructional material prepared for the Primary, Secondary and alternative systems of education by the AP State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) akin to NCERT at the national level.

On Wednesday, Reddy reviewed the progress of Mana Badi Nadu Nedu, an ambitious mission launched last year to transform the infrastructure and the teaching-learning environment in government schools.

The CM directed the officials to add an English-Telugu dictionary in the Vidya Kanuka kit being supplied free to the school children. Teachers should also be provided with quality dictionaries, Reddy instructed.