CHENNAI: School Education Minister KA Sengottaiyan on Saturday announced that smart classes will be established in 7,500 schools in Tamil Nadu and a total of 80,000 smart boards will be set up as part of this project by January.
Speaking at event in Dindugal, Sengottaiyan said this initiative will help poor children prepare for competitive exams. “Our State Board textbooks are so good that students can prepare for competitive exams using these,” he said, adding that using the smart classes, even students who do not have access to Kalvi TV or smart gadgets will be able to access the internet at school.
However, activists have said that without reopening schools, the smart boards will lie without much use and have urged the government to take some initiative to ensure that poor children do not drop out of
schools. “The absence of physical teaching and learning spaces have hurt the education of economically disadvantaged,” said Prince Gajendra Babu, general secretary, State Platform for Common School System.
The Student Federation of India has also announced that it will enter a national protest if educational institutions do not reopen by January. PK Ilamaran, leader of the Tamil Nadu Government Teachers Association, has said that the government should resume in-person classes for higher secondary students and announce priority syllabus making it easy for students to prepare for public exams as an immediate measure and install smart classes as schools reopen.