Tech trouble: Nearly 700 tablets returned by students unusable

The Haryana Government’s ambitious e-Adhigam scheme, aimed at enhancing digital learning in government schools, has encountered a major hurdle. Nearly 700 tablets returned by outgoing Class 10 and 12 students have been found damaged or completely non-functional, pointing to misuse, lack of accountability, and gaps in monitoring mechanisms.

Authorities revealed that some students managed to bypass the Mobile Device Management (MDM) security feature — designed to restrict usage to educational content — and used the tablets for social media and non-academic activities. This blatant violation has raised concerns about oversight by both students and teachers.

Adding to the concerns, teachers have also reported difficulties in accessing YouTube for academic purposes. “Even though most of the content is available through the MDM software, sometimes we need to access YouTube for clarity of the subject matter, but we have not been able to do so for the past two months. Teachers do not misuse these devices, but they should be given full access. Earlier, teachers had access to YouTube," said a teacher on the condition of anonymity.

The e-Adhigam scheme was launched by former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on May 5, 2022, in Rohtak. Under this initiative, the state Education Department distributed 28,600 tablets to students of Classes 10, 11, and 12, along with 2,069 devices for teachers across 178 government schools. Additionally, Class 9 students under the Buniyad scheme were also provided tablets.

With the academic session ending, the department has retrieved around 9,000 tablets from Class 10 students and 2,000 from Class 12 students. Shockingly, 700 of these devices have been returned in an unusable state.

“Outgoing students have returned their tablets. Nearly 700 are either damaged or non-functional. We will write to the department regarding the issue and will follow the guidelines," said Chatterpal, District Mathematics Specialist (DMS)-cum-nodal officer of the e-Adhigam scheme.

In response to the situation, District Education Officer Sudesh Thukral said school principals have already been instructed to ensure the safety of these devices. “Students should take care of the tabs provided to them for study purposes,” he emphasised.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Yash Jaluka assured that steps would be taken to prevent further misuse. “Students will be further sensitised about the proper usage of these tablets, which are provided for educational purposes,” he said.