28.8 lakh laptops to be given for school students: Sengottaiyan

As many as 15.40 lakh laptops will be distributed by the end of June for students of class 11 and 12 and for class 8, 9 and 10, 13.40 lakh laptops will be distributed by the end of July, said State School Education Minister K A Sengottaiyan today.

Addressing mediapersons at Palani, the Minister said, “The education system of Tamilnadu is a model for India as the government distributes 14 essentials including cycle, laptop and bag at free of cost for students of State-owned schools.”

For this academic year, the government targets 28 lakh students for distributing laptops. He further said 37 lakh students have already received the device and in span of six years, 65 lakh students have been benefited by the scheme.

India’s target in number of students seeking higher education stands at 25.6 per cent, but in Tamilnadu, it has grown by 48.9 per cent for which the discounts and efforts of School Education Department can be attributed for, he said.

About academic year’s plan, the Minister stated, “This year, smart classroom with Internet facility for class 9, 10 and 11 and smart class rooms for class 6, 7 and 8 covering 7,000 schools in the State will come up.”

“Since there are glitches in mobile library, measures will be taken to ensure the students can access the books in their laptops,” he said and added “New subjects like robotics will be incorporated in the lesson plan.”

The Minister also announced that a channel excursively for education department will be launched soon.