Adoni: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said that education is the only way to come out from the poverty and secure a better future for the forth coming generations.

He distributed schools kits worth Rs 931 crore under the Jagananna Vidya Kanuka scheme at Adoni in Kurnool district on Tuesday. A total of 47, 40,421 Government school students of Classes 1 to 10 received the kit costing around Rs 2,000 each.

AndhraPradeshCM: కర్నూలు: ఆదోనిలో జగనన్న విద్యాకానుక కార్యక్రమం. ముఖ్యమంత్రి శ్రీ వైయస్‌.జగన్‌ ప్రసంగంలోని కీలక అంశాలు. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/j1IXtvsc4i #iprap

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Speaking on the occasion YS Jagan in a public meeting in Adoni said that education is the most valuable asset that can be offered to children. Only education can change the fate of children and give them the confidence to live anywhere and compete at a global level. He said that Vidya Kanuka was being implemented for the past three years even though its cost of implementation was increasing with the rise in number of beneficiaries.

In 2020-21, each kit was valued at Rs 1,530 and was distributed to over 42 lakh students at an expenditure of Rs 650 crore. In 2021-22, the cost increased to Rs 1,726 per kit and was given to over 45 lakh students at a cost of Rs 790 crore. For 2022-23, each kit costing Rs 1,964 was distributed to 47 lakh students with Rs 931 crore, he said.

Government was providing the school kits to children, as it did not want the parents to take the burden of paying for the essentials and let it become an excuse for school dropouts, he added. He stressed the schemes which are implementing to strengthen the education in the State such as Mana Badi Nadu-Nedu, Amma Vodi, Jagananna Gorumudda, initiated by the Government over the past three years, Jagan asserted that his was the only government in the country, which was more focused on the future of the students and striving to ensure they are sufficiently equipped to face global competition.

On the MoU signed with Byju’s, the he said the Government will provide tablets to 4.7 lakh Class 8 students with the ed-tech major’s content uploaded on them, free of cost. The tabs will be provided in September. The main objective is to enable the students to successfully write Class X CBSE exams in English medium in 2025. The Government will spend Rs 500 crore to procure the tablets, he said

Stating that in his three years of governance, the overall admissions in Government schools across the State increased by 7.2 lakh, Jagan said a total strength of 44.3 lakh students was registered in the academic year 2021-22.  On the occasion, the CM interacted with the students and also checked the kits to see whether all the contents were in place. Ministers Botsa Satyanarayana, Gummanuru Jayaram, Adoni MLA Sai Prasad Reddy, party leaders, and various other officials were present.