:-
(a) whether the Government have launched a pilot `E-learning` project in 20 schools spread across seven districts of the country;
(b) if so, the salient features of the said project;
(c) if so, the financial benefit likely to accrue to these schools with the introduction of this facility; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SU THIRUNAVUKKARASAR)
(a) and (b): The Department of Information Technology has
formulated a specific programme `Vidya Vahini` for implementation
during the Tenth Five Year Plan, to integrate internet tools and
computer aided techniques into the learning environment.
To start with, a pilot project is being implemented in 7
districts, namely Kuppam (Andhra Pradesh), Gandhinagar (Gujarat),
Hazaribagh (Jharkhand), South 24-Parganas (West Bengal),
Parlivaijnath (Maharashtra), Lucknow and Allahabad (Uttar
Pradesh).
Under this pilot project, 20 schools have been selected in each of
the above districts and a t training lab is set up in each
district to train the teachers. In each of the selected schools,
a Server, 10 Multimedia PCs connected over Local Area Network
(LAN), a Network Printer, UPS, CVT, 29` Color TV and a VSAT is
installed. Relevant Software such as Office Tools, Encyclopedia,
Anti-Virus, Productivity Tools and some Course Curriculum has
been installed in the PCs.
(c) and (d): Computer equipment worth 10 lakhs have been
installed in each of the selected school. VSAT license fee of
Rs. 25,000/- per school has been waived off. One-quarter
transponder worth Rs.90 lakhs has been allocated for providing
internet connectivity to the schools.