THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In an effort to rebuild the flood-damaged technology infrastructure in schools, the Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE) has stepped up necessary measures. KITE is a government body which has developed 40,083 school classrooms in the state into hi-tech. They had also distributed laptops, projectors, mounting kits, and USB speakers to these classrooms.
According to KITE, 250 laptops, 50 projectors, and many desktops have been damaged. The highest number of damages was reported in Ernakulam district, followed by Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta districts. Since the damaged equipment will not get insurance coverage, the authorities are looking for other options to replace them, sources said. On Monday, a first-level assessment on the damage caused to the equipment in schools will be conducted. KITE officials said that a primary assessment will be undertaken this week itself and will begin proceedings to replace the damaged equipment, including laptops and projectors.
K Anvar Sadath, Vice Chairman and Executive Director of KITE, told Express that the hi-tech equipment and other devices damaged in floods will be replaced at these earliest. “None of the devices sustained severe damage. There are only some minor damages. Efforts are on to replace the damaged pieces soon,” Anvar said.
He added that the laptop companies will replace damaged ones as the warranty period is still on. “It is learnt that several desktop computers were damaged as they could not be shifted to the upper floors unlike laptops. So we have to count the loss of desktops too. However, we expect to replace all the damaged equipment within two months”, Anvar made it clear. Meanwhile, all primary classrooms of the schools in the state will have hi-tech labs in this academic year itself. “There is no change in the decision. We will complete the works before the end of this academic year,” Anvar said.
Of the 4,752 schools in the high school, higher secondary and vocational higher secondary streams, 3,676 schools now have all their classrooms hi-tech. Seventy per cent of classrooms became hitech in 702 schools, and 50 percent in 315 schools. The maximum number of hi-tech classrooms is in Malappuram 5,096, followed by Kozhikode, 4105, and Thrissur 3497.
40,083 classrooms in the state have been developed hi-tech by KITE
According to KITE, 250 laptops, 50 projectors, and many desktops have been damaged