With a view to providing facilities on a par with private institutions, the Corporation had established Smart Classrooms in three of its schools at a cost of ₹9.56 lakh, said Corporation Commissioner Sandeep Nanduri here on Wednesday.
Sellur K. Raju commissioned the facilities at Ponmudiyar, Kasturibai Gandhi and Kakkaipadiniyar schools and gave away furniture — 1,483 pieces — to 64 schools in the city. They were procured at a cost of ₹70 lakh.
In his address, Mr. Raju said that Tamil Nadu had earmarked the maximum allocation for education in the country. Among corporation schools in the State, Madurai stood on top with maximum number of students passing out and bagging ranks. The trend should continue, he said and appealed to the students to give their best in the ensuing public examinations as well.
The minister said that in the last five years, 221 primary schools were established in the State. As many as 112 primary schools were upgraded to middle schools, 810 middle schools to high schools and 402 high schools were upgraded to higher secondary schools.
Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao said that free laptops proved to be boon to Plus Two students. The government was committed to uplift the community as a whole, he said and asked the students to make the best use of the laptop. At the click of a mouse, information was available. Hence, students should use it for the right purpose and benefit from it, he said.
Mr. Nanduri said Corporation schools had night watchmen. In a phased manner, more higher secondary schools would get Smart Classrooms. They would have special audio-video sessions to make the subject interesting for students and give a new experience of learning.
Apart from giving all the 16,539 students with photo identity cards, the schools were also recruiting computer teachers and other staff with the support of parent-teacher association, he added.
