Gateway to digital learning for 220 J&K schools

SMART-CLASSROOMIn order to obtain the maximum gains from digitisation in education, it  is learned that some 220 schools will be enabled with smart classrooms and 132 schools in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, a senior official has said. These institutions are likely to be inducted into vocational education by March this year.

“The state’s schools will be ICT-enabled. In the first phase; 220 schools across J&K will be covered under the programme by March 2016,” confirmed Minister of State for Education and Culture Priya Sethi.

The ICT involves use of computer-based teaching and learning in the schools to prepare the students for the future challenges in the technological advancement.

Under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Information Communication Technology (ICT) for smart classes, the Government of India has approved smart classrooms with computer labs for 220 schools of the state under the ICT in school scheme, Sethi said.

The preparatory work to ensure the establishment of labs and smart classrooms has been completed and an MoU has been signed between National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) and the State Project Director, RMSA, the minister said.

The Education Ministry has taken major initiatives in setting up of Model schools with the objective of e-learning.

“An amount of Rs 6.40 crores has been allocated under Capex Budget 2015-16 for taking up minor improvement works in the model schools,” she said.

There has been provision for women safety in the form of designing hostels specifically for them on the agenda.

“100-bed girls hostel scheme has been introduced by GoI in Educationally Backward Blocks (EBBs) throughout the country. Out of 97 EBBs in the state, 68 blocks have been qualified for the establishment of equal number of girls hostels,” she reported.

In addition to this, the steps to advocate Vocational Education (VE) has also been initiated by the government. “GoI has approved 132 schools for the introduction of vocational education with two trades per school out of the following four trades, including Information Technology (IT/ITES), Tourism, Health care, Retail,” she added.