Hyderabad: The State Education Department has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to provide advanced technology based teaching services free of charge to students in government schools. This significant initiative will introduce state of the art EdTech facilities through collaboration with six prominent organisations recognised both nationally and internationally.

The MOU was formally signed with several well known organisations, including the Exstep Foundation, led by Nandan Nilekani; the Prajwala Foundation, headed by Dr Sunita Krishnan; Physics Wala, led by Alak Pandey; Khan Academy; the Pi Jam Foundation, founded by Shoaib Dar; and Educate Girls, led by Safina Hussain.

The Telangana Education Department stated on Sunday that the state government believes this partnership can bring about transformative changes in the state’s education sector. This move aligns directly with the Chief Minister’s vision to enhance educational quality. The government’s ongoing initiatives have reportedly attracted these organisations to collaborate with the state.

The Exstep Foundation will initially operate in 540 schools, utilising an artificial intelligence based platform, with plans to expand its reach to over 5,000 primary schools across 33 districts. This foundation offers instruction in Telugu and English, as well as basic Mathematics for students in classes 3 to 5.

Physics Wala will prepare intermediate students for competitive examinations such as NEET, JEE, and CLAT, providing free training from the school level. Khan Academy offers video based STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education aligned with the curriculum for students in classes 6 to 10.

The Prajwala Foundation, under the leadership of Dr Sunita Krishnan, will implement child safety and protection programmes for students from class 6 to class 12 throughout the state. Pi Jam Foundation will provide training in coding and computational thinking to students from classes 1 to 10.

Educate Girls has a proven track record, having successfully enrolled over 16,000 out of school children, significantly enhancing literacy and educational opportunities for girls in the state.

Government Advisor K Kesava Rao, Education Secretary Yogitharana, Chief Minister’s Special Secretary Ajith Reddy, School Education Director Narasimha Reddy, Director of School Education Naveen Nicholas, Education Department Special Secretary Haritha, as well as leaders from the partnering organisations participated in the signing ceremony. These included Xstep Foundation CEO Jagadish Babu, Prajwala Foundation Chief Dr Sunita Krishnan, Physics Wala Co Founder Prateek Maheshwari, Khan Academy India MD Swati Vasudevan, Pi Jam Foundation Founder Shoaib Dar, and Educate Girls CEO Gayatri Nair Lobo.