The State Government has taken steps to distribute tablet computers to school students across the State in a phased manner.
Speaking at the inauguration of ‘TechVidya@school’ initiated by the Ernakulam District Panchayat, State Education Minister P.K. Abdu Rabb said that the project would be implemented in association with local bodies and parent-teacher organisations.
Students will be able to upload their lessons on the tablet PCs and communicate with their teachers on the Internet, he said.
He said that the smart classroom project in schools had reached its final stages. A classroom in each school will be converted into a smart class. The aim is to set up classrooms without books, he added.
Minister for Civil Supplies Anoop Jacob said on the occasion that awareness should be created among students on how to use technology for knowledge upgradation. The challenge before teachers and parents is to check misuse of technology, he said.
Eldhose Kunnappillil, president of Ernakulam District Panchayat, said that ‘TechVidya@school’ project would train students in the lower and upper primary sections in schools under the Ernakulam district panchayat.
The project is being implemented by Keltron. As many as 53 schools will receive around 140 desktops, 221 laptops, and 91 multimedia projectors as part of the project, he said.
PTI adds: The UPA government is committed to ensure that the virtual world infrastructure is completed as early as possible to connect 250,000 gram panchayats through the national fibre optics connectivity, Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal said here today.
“The government’s plan is to connect 2.5 lakh panchayats through the national fibre optics connectivity, the last mile of which would be through wireless broadband,” he said.
He was speaking after inaugurating the Science Congress and laying the foundation stone for the Federal Institute of Science and Technology (FISAT)’s Science and Technology Park and Research centre at nearby Mookkannoor.
“In real terms you are having a virtual highway which is unlimited through which data can flow at the speed of sound. It allows farmers to be told when to fish, in which part of the pond there is chlorophyll, when to sow seeds, when monsoon will come and when to sell produce to get best market price,” he said.
Sibal said the low cost Akash tablet would hopefully be in the hands of every child in five to seven years at a cost of Rs 1,500. “Akash 2 will have a SIM card. This is the wonder of technology,” he said.