The implementation of the scheme would, to an extent, help in upgrading the level of education in the government schools It is peanuts but speaks volumes about insensitivity and nonchalance of the state bureaucracy towards the key sectors of development that could help in ameliorating the lot of the common people. The state government has decided to surrender Rs.6 Crores received from the Union Ministry of Human Resources and Development for execution of centrally sponsored Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Scheme. Two hundred government run Higher Secondary Schools were to be brought within the ambit of the scheme. The central government launched the scheme in December 2001 with noble objective of providing opportunities to secondary stage students in building their capacities on ICT skills and enable them to learn through computer aided learning process. Under the revised scheme, each school brought under the scheme is entitled to non-recurring expenditure of Rs. 6.4 lakh and to a recurring expenditure of Rs.2.70 lakh and recurring cost will be provided for five years. The scheme also has provision for a full time computer teacher in each higher secondary and in-service induction and refresher-training course for all in-service teachers in higher secondary schools. The scheme once executed would work as major catalyst to help in bridging the digital gap amongst students of various socio-economic categories. For lackadaisical attitude of the state bureaucracy, the students in government schools and some government-aided schools, both in the urban and the rural areas, compared to students in public schools are disadvantageously placed. The implementation of the scheme would, to an extent, help in upgrading the level of education in the government schools. There are over a score of centrally sponsored schemes in education sector those if implemented in the state can bring a sea change in the educational scene in the state. Notwithstanding the state of Jammu and Kashmir being first state to introduce free education from first primary to post-graduate level, it is far behind in providing good education to socially and economically backward communities in the state. The non-execution of the ICT scheme in two hundred higher secondary schools is just one example, in fact the cupboards of the state education department are full of skeletons of centrally sponsored schemes that hardly were executed in true spirit. It is high time for the government to act against officers who instead of utilizing the funds received from the central government prefer to surrender the same.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Oct 2013 10:36:04 +0000
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