WB team impressed by PAL in EG schools

Rajamahendravaram: A World Bank team led by Kristel Kouame visited Zilla Parishad High School at Konthamuru in East Godavari district on Friday to assess the implementation of the Personalised Adaptive Learning (PAL) programme, a technology-driven initiative aimed at improving foundational learning among school students. The school, functioning under the PM SHRI scheme, has emerged as one of the model institutions implementing personalised digital learning in the state. During the visit, the World Bank team observed the functioning of the PAL laboratory and interacted with students to assess their conceptual understanding and learning outcomes.

The students confidently explained subject concepts and shared details of their individual learning progress through the PAL platform. Expressing satisfaction over the programme, Kristel Kouame appreciated the enthusiasm shown by the students and commended the commitment of the school management and teachers towards digital learning. The school has recorded 100% student participation in the programme, with all 254 enrolled students actively using the PAL platform. Officials said each student has spent an average of 10.79 hours on the learning platform, resulting in measurable academic improvement. The average assessment score increased from 27.28 in the baseline evaluation to 30.92 in the end-line assessment, registering a 13.35 per cent improvement. Officials explained that AP is the first State in the country to implement the PAL programme on such a large scale. At present, the initiative covers 1,502 schools across all 26 districts, benefiting nearly 3.8 lakh students through the use of 45,060 tablets.

They also referred to an independent study conducted by the Development Innovation Lab (DIL), led by Nobel laureate Professor Michael Kremer, which found that students learning in PAL-enabled classrooms progressed 2.25 times faster than those in conventional classrooms. The study concluded that the programme delivered learning gains equivalent to an additional 1.9 years of education over a period of 17 months.

Encouraged by the success of PM SHRI schools such as ZP High School, Konthamuru, the State government has proposed to extend the PAL programme to another 327 PM SHRI schools from the 2026-27 academic year. Officials said the expansion reflects the government’s commitment to strengthening foundational learning and improving subject-wise learning outcomes through adaptive technology. The World Bank delegation was accompanied by SALT Project State Coordinator Satish Reddy, State PAL Coordinator B Kishore Babu, District Samagra Shiksha Academic Monitoring Officer Y Lakshman Kumar, ASO Prasad, Headmistress Ratna Kala, ConvGenius Manager B Jean Paul, Central Square Foundation representative Raja Harsha, YV Prasad and PAL field management staff members Asha and Narasimha.

Later, the World Bank team visited the Model Primary School at Narayanapuram, where it reviewed the implementation of the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) programme. Kristel Kouame observed classroom activities and expressed satisfaction with the learning environment.

She appreciated the students’ logical thinking, creativity and classroom participation and also commended the teachers for their effective use of teaching-learning materials. Additional Director (SALT) Nageswara Rao, State Academic Monitoring Officer, SALT State Coordinator Satish Reddy, District Educational Officer Kandi Vasudeva Rao, Samagra Shiksha Additional Project Coordinator Subhashini and District Academic Monitoring Officer Y Lakshman Kumar accompanied the World Bank delegation during the inspections.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Deekshitula Subrahmanyam

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Deekshitula RV Subrahmanyam is a Staff Reporter with The Hans India, covering the erstwhile East and West Godavari districts, along with Alluri Sitarama Raju and Polavaram districts. A journalist with experience of over three decades, he began his career as a Telugu mofussil reporter in 1991. He writes extensively on politics, tribal affairs, rural development, tourism, development, and human-interest stories He is the author of the six-part Telugu prose Ramayana Sitarama Kathasudha and has received several literary and journalistic honours, including the JCI Young Writer Award, Vadlamudi Rammohan Rao Memorial Award and Madduri Annapurnayya Memorial Award.

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