School News Network
SAS Nagar, December 19, 2020
To facilitate seamless e-learning in government schools amid Covid-19 pandemic, Chief Minister of Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh launched 2nd phase of Captain Smart Connect virtually and distributed another 80,000 mobile phones to the students of class 12 of Government Schools. The event held at Government High School, Behlolpur, SAS Nagar.
The event witnessed simultaneous distribution of phones at 845 schools today by various Ministers, MLAs and other dignitaries across the state.
Kick-starting the second phase at the Government Senior Secondary School here, the Chief Minister announced that the remaining 45443 smart phones of the targeted 1,75,443 would be provided to students by the end of this month, to fulfill his government’s commitment to further strengthen digital infrastructure in schools. While his government had tried to distribute these phones urgently to meet the online education challenges amid Covid, closure of the industry had somewhat delayed the process, he added.
In the 1st phase, 50000 students had received smart phones. Under the scheme, the state government is spending Rs 87.84 crore for the digital empowerment of 88059 boys and 87284 girls. The Chief Minister said that 877 tablets were also being provided today in 22 senior secondary schools at the cost of Rs. one crore. Earlier, 2625 tablets were provided to 372 primary schools at the cost of Rs. 2.99 crore.
Addressing the students, Capt. Amarinder said when the Punjab Congress promised smart phones in its manifesto, nobody knew these phones would become so vital for students due to the Covid pandemic. He said he wanted Punjab’s youngsters to be abreast with the latest technological advancements for effective promotion of digital education, which leverages technology in a big way in the present scenario. The Chief Minister said that smart phones and tablets would equip the students to meet the challenges of education during the trying times of pandemic.
The Chief Minister reiterated his government’s firm commitment to provide the best infrastructure in schools to enable students to compete with their peers in private and convent schools. In this context, he said 7842 schools and had been converted into smart schools with the latest infrastructure, coupled with computers, tablets etc, and 1400 more government schools would also be converted into smart schools by the end of the next year. Further, he said the School Education Department had converted 16589 classrooms as smart classrooms across the state, and the remaining would also be covered under this scheme in the next six months.
Even as he congratulated the teachers for preparing the e-content, which is now used while teaching the students online, the Chief Minister stressed the need for keeping pace with the fast-paced changes in education globally. With Punjabis settled around the world, it was important for students also to learn English and other languages to enable them to be job-ready across the globe, he added.
His government, said the Chief Minister, had ensured that every student studying in Govt. Schools gets the best education with the help of the latest gadgets. Punjab is the first state in the country to universalize Pre-Primary School Education in the year 2017 itself, and the same is now fully operational in all the primary schools. As many as 8393 posts of the pre-primary school teachers have been created and the same would be filled shortly, he said, adding that the introduction of the online transfer policy for teachers, based on merit and performance, was another major step by his government to raise the bar in education by bringing transparency into the system.
Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu, who is also MLA from Mohali, the Chief Minister announced that the school would be upgraded to senior secondary level and named after 1971 war martyr Captain Ami Singh, Vir Chakra. Furthermore, Rs. 25 lakh would be given to the Government senior secondary School for Girls Sohana, he said.
Earlier Chief Minister also interacted with the tiny tots of the Pre Primary wing of the school.
Prominent among others who were present at the occasion included MLA Navtej Singh Cheema, Principal Secretary to CM Tejvir Singh, Director General School Education Mohd Tayyab, DC Mohali Girish Dayalan, SSP Mohali Satinder Singh DPI (SE) Sukhjit Pal Singh and DPI (EE) Lalit Kishore Ghai.
A pictorial Presentation highlights the activities held during the function.
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