2,500 schools in first phase, another 2,500 to be added
T he Uttar Pradesh government today introduced computer and computer-aided learning in 2,500 secondary schools all over the state under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode.
Another 2,500 government and aided high and intermediate schools will soon be covered following a tender process.
Under the Computer Education and Information & Communications Technology (ICT) programme, 75 per cent of the funds will be provided by the Centre and the rest 25 per cent by the state government.
By way of bidding process, Educomp Solutions Limited and another education company was selected by the state government for setting up IT learning infrastructure in 5,000 government and aided schools in the state under the Build, Own Operate and Transfer (Boot) model. Of the 2,500 schools in 41 districts covered in the first phase, Educomp has set up the IT learning infrastructure in 1,401 schools, where free computer education would be provided to pupils.
Under the scheme, the private partner will install 10 computers and other necessary paraphernalia in each school and appoint an educator to train five teachers in IT and computer-aided learning.
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After the completion of five years, the infrastructure would be managed by the respective school, while the private partner would receive a total of Rs 8.36 lakh per school over this period.
“In the first phase, the Centre has released its share of Rs 37.50 crore for the scheme,” state secondary education minister Rangnath Mishra said addressing a function to mark the formal launch of the scheme here.
“We will request the Centre to provide funds for the 15,000 other unaided schools, where majority of the 10 million odd secondary students are enrolled in UP,” he added. Educomp president Soumya Kanti told Business Standard that the company was running similar programmes in almost 14,500 schools in the country spread over 14 states, including 2,000 private schools.