New Delhi Nearly a year after it was announced, the Delhi government started distribution of over 15,000 tablets to meritorious students from government schools on Friday. The scheme was announced last February, under the digital learning scheme, in the budget.
While distributing the tablets to students of classes 11 and 12 at School of Excellence, Kalkaji, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said, “We are giving these tablets to every student who has shown glimpses of excellence. The tablet is like a portable library that will be connecting the students with their teachers and peers. We are open to ideas from students on how to use this tablet, how to utilise it for better learning and even better performances.”
The government had announced that students of classes 11 and 12 of 22 Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya (RPVVs) and five Schools of Excellence, along with those who had scored above 80% marks in the 2018-19 class 10 board examinations, will be given these tablets.
This comes after the government distributed over 60,000 tablets to teachers of Delhi government schools last year, asking them to use these to make lesson plans and record attendance, among other things.
Sisodia also cautioned the students and asked them to use the tablet for constructive means. “It is in your hands how you would like to use this tablet. Whether you want your parents to come up and complain to me that the children have become addicted to the tablets or I would be getting a positive response from the parents praising the government for facilitating the learning of their wards is in your hands now,” he said.
M Shariq, head of school, SOE-Kalkaji, said, “Students can access digital content on NCERT applications or explore free educational resources on the internet, which can help them prepare for competitive examinations. Those who have computer science as an additional subject can also use it for programming. The students also said they would use the device to express their creative side.”
Deepanshi, a class 12 student of the school, who was using her sibling’s laptop until now, said the tablet is easier to access and carry. “There wasn’t a lot of support material on the changed syllabus. So, we had prepared our own questions, but seeing them on phones was difficult. It is easier to access these on tablets and solve test papers. Besides, we can also conduct online surveys for our projects and reach a wider audience.”
