THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The General Education Protection Mission rolled out by the LDF Government has received wide acceptance in society, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said here on Friday. He was launching the hi-tech lab project for primary schools, being implemented by the Kerala Infrastructure and Technology For Education (KITE).
KITE has already transformed 45,000 classrooms to hi-tech mode from Classes VIII- XII through a project worth Rs 493 crore. The project in primary schools is a continuation of that initiative. With the implementation of the Rs 292 crore project in 9,941 primary schools, as many as 15,000 schools from Classes I - XII will turn hi-tech, the Chief Minister said. Over 41 lakh students will benefit from the project, Pinarayi said, adding, it is the duty of parents and teachers to ensure children make full use of the facility.
Education Minister C Raveendranath said with the implementation of the hi-tech lab project, Kerala is poised to become the first state in the country to become fully digital in the school education sector.
The Chief Minister presented awards to the best Little Kites Club in the state.
Ambitious Project
KITE had completed eTender proceedings for procurement of 55,086 Laptops, USB Speakers and 23,170 Multimedia Projectors for 9,941 primary schools in May, for which KIIFB has sanctioned Rs 292 crore.
The distribution of these equipment to the primary schools has started in the 14 District Offices of KITE and the deployment is scheduled to be completed by September, said K.Anvar Sadath, KITE vice-chairman and executive director.
The District Offices will intimate the schools on the date and time when the schools can receive the equipment. Though primary schools were slated to be made digital by June, the project has been delayed by three months. By September, students of primary schools will be able to access the Information for Communication Technology (ICT) tools to be deployed under the project.