Haryana becomes first state to adopt tablet-based personalised learning

The Haryana government on Thursday announced the commencement of a personalised and adaptive learning (PAL) programme to ensure teaching at the right level.

The tablet-based learning programme will be rolled out for all 5 lakh government school students in the state from classes 10 to 12 through a library-based model.

With this initiative, Haryana aims to mitigate the learning losses incurred due to Covid-19 and achieve higher learning level outcomes.

According to an ASER survey conducted last year, nearly half (47%) of the students who did not have access to learning materials cited a lack of gadgets as a reason, while 10% cited lack of internet. Due to working hours, digital devices owned by parents could not replace school-based learning time.

Based on this data and ground-level feedback, offering device access was identified as the core solution to deal with the issue. The integration of the PAL software will support classroom teaching by enabling an adaptive practice and personalised remedial learning for students.

The selection of the edtech partner was comprehensively implemented via evaluation based on IIT Bombay's Tulna framework and a four-week proof of concept and a thorough pilot programme in government schools followed by a tender.

Samagra, a mission-driven governance consulting firm has been working with the Haryana government since 2017 to improve the quality of education in the state’s 14,000+ government schools. They have supported the government in this initiative.

Commenting on the initiative, Samagra’s founder and CEO Gaurav Goel said, “This is a pioneering step by the state. The pandemic-led disruption observed over the last two years, led to a deficit in the in-person teaching model. While the Haryana government took the lead in deploying technology to sustain the quality of education, this move will go a long way in improving access to devices to facilitate online learning. Based on parameters like device mobility, user interface, tablets were identified as the appropriate device for student learning.”

Companies like Samsung, Airtel and Jio have partnered with the state for this initiative. The tablets provided, will be backed by appropriate data connectivity. Students can access the service without having to pay for any additional fees.

With this initiative the Haryana Government aims to bridge the gap between government schools and private ed-tech players or schools. The government has also enabled a mobile device management solution which ensures appropriate utility and no misuse of the devices.

“Besides device access, the state also recognized that there is a fundamental issue in student learning since all students are at varied learning levels and have different pace of learning. Hence, the state is also investing in the procurement and distribution of PAL-enabled tablets. This programme is projected to create a significant new-age seamless blend of in-school and at-home learning experience in the AY 2022 – 2023,” Goel added.

Samagra works with the bureaucratic leadership of states across domains to solve complex governance problems at scale. So far, it has worked with seven state governments, besides the Government of India, on more than 15 large-scale systemic transformation programmes across domains such as education, employment, agriculture, health, public service delivery and skilling.