In order to arrest the dropout rates in city municipal schools at higher classes, the education department of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is planning to provide free tablets to students of class VIII of municipal schools in the city. The move, civic officials expect, will motivate the students to continue pursue studies beyond class seven.
In order to arrest the dropout rates in city municipal schools at higher classes, the education department of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is planning to provide free tablets to students of class VIII of municipal schools in the city. The move, civic officials expect, will motivate the students to continue pursue studies beyond class seven.
Reliable sources confirmed the news to dna, and informed that a separate amount for the tablets will be allocated in the upcoming annual budget of the BMC, expected to be presented in the first week of February. "The cost of the tablet is being worked out. Each tablet could cost anywhere between Rs 2,500 to Rs 7,000," a source told dna.
There are 1,125 municipal schools in the city, of which 145 have class VIII. The present number of class VIII students across these civic schools is 13,728, which could vary the next academic year.
Notes, revision exercises and sample question papers, based on class VIII curriculum, will be fed into these tablets to make learning even more interesting for students, who can make use of it also from the comfort of their own homes. "The students are supposed to retain these tablets for three academic years. The tablets will contain their course material in interesting formats, which will make it easier for them to grasp. The tablets would be convenient to handle and children will enjoy making use of them since technology excites them," a source said.
However, the BMC is not planning to provide internet connection for the tablets. "Whatever they need to study will be fed into these tablets. What it lacks will be a mechanism by which the students could get in touch with their teachers to clear doubts, which would be worked out in due course of time," an official said.
The move, however, received mixed response from civic society groups working for municipal schools in the city. Nitin Wadhwani of NGO Citizens' Association for Child Rights, said, "Use of technology in education is always welcome. We have been following up with the education department to ensure computer labs with full-time teachers and implementing of the Computer Literacy Programme for almost two years now. Even though the progress is slow, steps are being taken in the right direction."
He added, "As always, the department spends a lot of money on things like virtual classroom, providing computers etc, but unless they ensure proper implementation and accountability, it will be another expensive exercise, which could yield no positive result."
Education committee chairman Vinod Shelar said he is yet not aware of the plan.
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