All the 25 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBV) that achieved 100 per cent pass percentage, have turned smart. They are now in the process of getting smart classrooms, what with a pro-active district administration comprising of senior officials in the Education Department and the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).
It all started off with a senior officer observing that funds received from the Centre under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyaan (RMSA) were not being fully utilised.
RMSA, a Government of India initiative provides funds for promoting science in schools by setting up a laboratory and a library. Project Smart Classroom takes off with schools utilising Rs. 40,000 from the RMSA funds, to which District Collector T.K. Sreedevi and SSA, represented by Govindarajulu, pooled up Rs. 85,000 more, from their joint account. This account also has what is called the Crucial Balancing Fund component, taking the total to Rs. 1.25 lakh per school to enable a Smart Classroom. The first of these started last month and the deadline is October-end. “This is a really-beneficial programme that can improve education standards by leaps and bounds,” Mr. Govindarajulu said.
The smart classroom basically has a a desktop computer with multi-media software and a projector that throws up the image on a larger screen. Content in various subjects for those between Classes VI and X are contributed by Praveenya, a voluntary agency. Pavani, a Special Officer in the KGBV in Boothpur says she is eager to get cracking. “I have anyway trained in Praveenya lessons, so once Dasara vacations are over, our smart classroom will get going,” she says, adding that it was only last week that the equipment was inaugurated by the Collector.
Speaking to The Hindu, Ms. Sreedevi said it would be a win-win situation if the Mahabubnagar model was replicated. “There are funds available and it is just a matter of motivating people in other agencies and departments. This mode of instruction makes learning easier and experts have established that it leads to better appreciation of the lessons taught and for development of cognitive and communication skills of students who are otherwise good at writing but were shy when it came to language speaking skills,” she said.
