Chandigarh, April 15– Haryana Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal said that the e-adhigam scheme launched with the objective of promoting digital education and providing online education to the children belonging to poor and needy families is proving to be a boon for them. Under this scheme, so far tablets have been provided to 5.5 lakh students. Along with this, free 2GB internet data is also being given per day. For this, the state government made an ambitious scheme with Rs 1,000 crore and this is a first-of-its-kind scheme in the entire India, said Sh. Manohar Lal while interacting with the children and their parents who have received smart tablets under the e-adhigam scheme through audio conferencing held here today.
The Chief Minister said that the e-adhigam initiative of the state government will prove to be a milestone towards realizing the Digital India vision of Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi.
Praising the Chief Minister for providing free tablets to the students, the students said that it is only because of the e-adhigam scheme launched by the 'Manohar Sarkar' that even they have got smart tablets and were saved from suffering academic loss during the Pandemic.
"With these free tablets, not only did we get education, infact today we are able to prepare for competitive exams as well," said the students.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister also encouraged students to dream big and achieve their goals.
Sh. Manohar Lal said that IT has been used in the field of education for a long time, but this digital platform had become the need of every student during the COVID-19 Pandemic. He said that this was the time when schools and colleges were closed due to the virus spread but at the same time, it was also pivotal to impart education to the students. For this, the government used several digital platforms.
The pandemic made us realise the need to ensure the availability of digital devices to the students so that no one suffers any academic loss. It was then, we decided to provide tablets to the students and on May 5, 2022, tablets were distributed to the students while inaugurating the e-adhigam scheme from Rohtak, said Sh. Manohar Lal.
The Chief Minister requested all the students to make maximum use of these smart tablets, so as to remain academically updated with the world.
Sh. Manohar Lal said a permanent, easily accessible two-way communication between the teacher and the student was developed through e-adhigam scheme. Both the students and teachers were encouraged to make maximum use of technology.
Government aims to ensure that at least 60 percent students and teachers use tablets by the end of May 2023
The Chief Minister said that the government has also provided tablets to 37,370 teachers so that they too get the facility of online education. The government has issued SOP for the distribution of tablets in the new academic year 2023-24.
For this, necessary action has been initiated by the schools. The government aims to have at least 60 per cent students and teachers use tablets by the end of May, 2023. For this, teachers have been directed to ensure maximum use of tablets daily in the classroom and at home. Training is being imparted to officers and teachers to promote the use of tablets, said Sh. Manohar Lal.
During Pandemic, school classrooms were made virtual with IT
Sh. Manohar Lal said that at the time of the Pandemic, when the children of poor families did not have internet-connected mobile phones, the government had decided to provide tablets to the school children so that no one is deprived of education.
During the Pandemic, with the use of IT, schools classrooms were made virtual so that the students can get education while sitting at home. On April 15, 2020, a distance education programme was started, said Sh. Manohar Lal.
The Chief Minister said that the 3-S mantra i.e (Stay at Home, Study at Home, School at Home) was given to the students. At that time online classes were started for the students of schools and colleges. Education was also imparted through NCERT TV, which greatly benefitted about 52 lakh students.
He said that recorded lectures are also made available on cable networks. More than 1.87 lakh students of government schools were given education through Shiksha Setu App. Apart from this, Sampark Baithak mobile application was also launched for children studying in primary schools.
Haryana set to implementing the NEP by the year 2025
The Chief Minister said that the state government has set a target to fully implement the National Education Policy-2020 by the year 2025. One of the objectives of this policy is to develop the skills of the students. Now students who are getting digital access at school level, will be seen trying their hand in IT sector or 21st century skills in coming years like Artificial Intelligence Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Data Mining, Block Chain Management, Coding, Gaming etc.
He said that Prime Minister, Sh. Narendra Modi aims to double India's share in international employment in the next five-year plan. Haryana's e-adhigam is certainly going to play a pivotal role to realize this aim.
Chief Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. D.S Dhesi, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister and Director General, Information, Public Relations, Language and Culture Department Dr. Amit Agrawal, Director, Secondary Education and Special Secretary, School Education Department, Sh. Anshaj Singh, Political Advisor to Chief Minister, Sh. B. B. Bharti and Joint Director (Admn.), Information, Public Relations, Language and Culture Department, Sh Gaurav Gupta and other officers also remained present on this occasion.