TN’s smart move: Class 8,9 10 students to get laptops

In a move that could see a complete digital transformation of the education system here, the State government has decided to distribute smart laptop systems to students of Class 8, 9 and 10 from the coming academic year albeit with certain conditions. The government had already doled out free laptops to higher secondary and college students. However, the smart ones will have limited configuration.

The sudden move comes from the the Special Programme Implementation Department, the nodal agency for monitoring people’s welfare scheme.

A senior School Education Department official, involved in the laptop scheme, told DT Next that 13.40 lakh smart laptops would be procured through Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu and distributed to the students. “However, these smart laptops, have limited configuration than the laptop distributed to higher secondary and college level students,” he pointed out, adding that the total project would cost the exchequer Rs 500 crore.

The official said the smart laptop would come with in-built battery, basic hardware, software and operating systems. “Similar to that of the PC, this laptop includes motherboard, processor, External hard disk, memory, graphic card, keyboard and mouse,” he said, adding the system can also be used to read QR codes in books. Stating that special software would be provided for the visually impaired students, the official said, “Textbook content, general knowledge software, physical education learning methods, will be loaded in the laptops”.

The official said the government would supply 15.40 lakh free laptops to Class 11, 12 and first-year college students this year. “Laptops have been procured through tender and the distribution will begin once schools and colleges reopen in June,” he added.

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