There is no stopping this one-of-a-kind bus doing the rounds in the district. For the E-Education bus, aimed at popularising computer usage among government school children, has become a huge hit.
The brainchild of Fr Jose of Don Bosco Institutions, Chitradurga, this initiative aims at educating every child in the district about computers.
The refurbished bus has been fitted with desks and chairs on which laptops can be used by the children. There are 10 laptops to teach students on the bus charged through solar panels provided by SELCO.
The bus that started its journey in January 2012 with an intention to reach a minimum of 10,000 children has so far covered 60 schools and 2,081 children.
Free training is provided to batches of 20 children each. Students of 6th and 7th standards are given prominence.
Speaking to Express, the man behind this facility, Fr Julian said, “Our target is students of government schools who generally come from a poor background.
Along with imparting computer knowledge, we are also planning to tap and nurture the talent of the students.” We also want to remove the fear of using computers in children and boost their confidence in using the machine.
“Even the response from teachers in rural areas is favourable. Government school teachers from various areas are inquiring about the programme schedule. We are receiving a rousing welcome everywhere we go,” he said.
When asked about the response from the children, he said, “They are eager to learn and curious about the programme.” Julian also plans to hold a similar training programme for high school students, with netbooks installed with Internet.
The project is funded by the Don Bosco institutions.
District manager of SELCO Manjunath Bhagawath said the solar panels installation and accessories cost Rs 2.16 lakh.