In 1992, the Japanese school teaching guidelines changed, and arithmetic textbooks for fifth and sixth graders now required the students to use a calculator to solve some problems, making the calculator a new classroom tool. The idea behind this was to have students develop a firm grasp of basic arithmetic in the lower grades, and then adopt calculators in the upper grades, which would allow the students to spend more time learning concepts and less time doing calculations on paper.
Since the AZ-8 and SL-300LH were introduced in schools as teaching devices, the decimal point display was made larger for the young pupils to read, and a protective hard case was added, among other special features.
In 2002, the teaching guidelines were revised again, and the use of calculators was expanded to allow their use starting from the fourth grade.