Parliament Question: Digital Education and Connectivity in Andhra Pradesh

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2724 ANSWERED ON 09/03/2026 Digital Education and Connectivity in Andhra Pradesh 2724. Dr. C M Ramesh: Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state: (a) the details of initiatives taken by the Government to promote digital education, smart classrooms and broadband connectivity in educational institutions in Andhra Pradesh; (b) the number of institutions covered under the said initiative in Anakapalli Lok Sabha Parliamentary Constituency; and (c) the details of steps taken by the Government to bridge the digital divide in rural and semiurban areas of the country? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY) (a) to (c): The National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020) announced on 29.07.2020 is the first education policy of the 21st century and aims to address the many growing developmental imperatives of our country. The Policy proposes the revision and revamping of all aspects of the education structure, including its regulation and governance, to create a new system that is aligned with the aspirational goals of 21st century education, including SDG-4, while building upon India’s traditions and value systems. Education is part of the Concurrent List of the Constitution and most of the Government schools are under the administration of the State Government and its bodies. The Ministry of Education implements ICT and Digital initiatives under Samagra Shiksha and digital learning in Government schools across the country, including rural areas. The initiatives aim to enhance the quality of education by integrating technology into teaching and learning processes. Under the initiatives, funds are provided for setting up ICT Labs and Smart Classrooms according to the requirements of the State submitted in the Annual Work Plan & Budget (AWP&B). A comprehensive initiative called PM eVidya was initiated as part of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan’ on 17th May, 2020, which unifies all efforts related to digital/online/on-air education to enable multi-mode access to education across the country under the aegis of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. States/Union Territories (UTs) collaborate with NCERT to utilise, monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of these initiatives as per their requirements in mother tongue/local/regional languages. PM eVidya includes 200 DTH TV Channels allotted to States/UTs/Autonomous Bodies (ABs)/Other Ministries in Government of Indiaand 400 Radio channels, including PM eVidya PM mobile app, to enable them to provide supplementary education as per their requirement in various Indian languages for classes 1-12. The State of Andhra Pradesh has been allotted 5 channels (PM eVIDYA 48 to 52), disseminating 636 video contents. Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA) is the Nation’s One Nation, One Digital platform for providing quality e-content for school education in States/UTs along with QR coded Energised Textbooks (ETBs) for all grades. Andhra Pradesh as a participating state in DIKSHA, has 5.57 lakh registered users, 21.32 crore learning sessions and 250.38 crore learning minutes. Additionally, Andhra Pradesh hosts 293 digital textbooks and 19,800+ e-content. DIKSHA Offline supports areas with limited or no internet connectivity. The stakeholders have access to more than 614 Virtual Labs and 100 Virtual skill labs (50 each in Hindi and English) on DIKSHA. The Government of India, in the Budget 2025, has announced provision of broadband connectivity to all Government Secondary schools in rural areas, under the ‘BharatNet’ project to enhance digital infrastructure in remote areas by BSNL in a phased manner. In the State of Andhra Pradesh, 43,619 schools are connected to the internet via BSNL, APSFL or 4G Connectivity with multi-wan router. The School Education Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh has approved and supplied 59,034 Interactive Flat Panels (IFPs) for classes VI-X and provided 36,783 Smart TVs for classes I-V during last 3 years to cover rural and semi-urban schools across all districts. The department has provided broadband connections to all high schools and upper primary schools wherever connectivity is feasible. The Government of Andhra Pradesh has introduced 2,000 Additional Digital Classrooms (ADCRs) to modernize school education and make learning more interactive. These classrooms are equipped with smart boards, projectors, and digital content aligned with the curriculum, ensuring that students across rural and urban areas benefit equally from ICT-based education. The Government of Andhra Pradesh is implementing the Personalised Adaptive Learning (PAL) programme under Samagra Shiksha to promote digital and technology-enabled learning in schools. At present, the programme is being implemented in 1,502 schools across the State, including Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) and PM SHRI Schools. To facilitate the implementation of the initiative, 45,060 tablets have been distributed to the 1,502 Schools. In the Anakapalli Lok Sabha Parliamentary Constituency, a comprehensive Digital Learning Initiative has been implemented to strengthen technology-enabled education across government schools. Under this initiative, 388 schools were equipped with 1,146 Interactive Flat Panels (IFPs) across two phases, while 421 schools were covered under the Smart TV programme with the installation of 753 Smart TV units. In addition, under the Student Tablet Distribution Programme, a total of 41,700 tablets have been supplied to support digital access for students. A total of 47 schools in the Anakapalli Lok Sabha Parliamentary Constituency have been covered under the PAL programme. This initiative significantly enhances digital infrastructure and promotes interactive, technology-driven learning in the constituency. *****