Poor Net blocks digitisation of Maha schools

Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, June 18

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Poor Internet connectivity and irregular power supply are hampering an ambitious programme to digitise 1.06 lakh government schools in Maharashtra.

While more than 70,000 schools in urban and semi-urban areas have been digitised so far, it is proving to be a challenge to extend the programme to schools in rural and tribal areas, according to sources at the Maharashtra State Council of Education Research and Training (MSCERT). 

“Many of these schools are single teacher schools or have two teachers on the rolls handling several classes in remote locations,” says an MSCERT official. “The teachers in government schools have been trained in e-learning content and they will be able to work in a digital classroom as soon as the equipment is installed.”

Many of these schools operate during daylight and make do without regular power connectivity required to operate equipment such as digital blackboards and computers. Internet connectivity is also patchy because of which district officials are reluctant to equip these schools with tools for digital education such as LCD screens, projectors and computer workstations. According to officials in the Education Department, the state government has set an ambitious target to digitise all the schools run by the administration by 2020.

Incidentally, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis recently said the state government has been able to motivate community organisations and corporate houses to sponsor the tools needed for digital classrooms. “Not just every school but every classroom is being digitised,” Fadnavis has been quoted as saying.

Local initiative is, however, helping the authorities overcome infrastructural bottlenecks. District education officials from Nagpur have persuaded the state government to install solar panels in 300 zilla parishad schools in the district. Solar panels of 1 to 1.5 KV will be installed at the schools to power computers and other equipment.

Figure this! 

1.06 lakh  Govt schools in Maharashtra
70,000 Schools in urban, semi-urban areas digitised so far
2020 Deadline set by govt for administration-run schools