The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Computer education hits roadblock in schools
Shariq Majeed
Tribune News Service

Thanamandi (Rajouri), December 29
Though the state government provided computers, while launching the computer education programme in about a dozen higher secondary schools in Rajouri district, it has forgotten to give UPS sets, necessary to run these computers.

The end result - the much-hyped computer education programme for making students computer-savvy could not take off. This is not because the state government did not provide computers for education, but it forgot to provide UPS sets for running them.

Thus the government of India-sponsored computer education scheme, Institute of Computer Training (IST), could not take off even after more than two years of its conception. Students are now keeping their hands off from the subject which has become quite popular in urban centres.

Highly placed sources within the school administration revealed that the state government as part of its efforts to educate students in government-run higher secondary schools, had provided six computers to the school in August 2005. However, more than two years have passed but the government has not provided UPS sets for running them.

Sources said the school administration provided a UPS set for one computer, which was used to educate 40 students enrolled for computer and IT course, but a majority of the students desirous of seeking enrolment in these courses cannot get the same. They said the school administration on many occasions had written to the higher authorities for providing UPS sets but the latter failed to provide the same.

“Though I want to know more about the computer world, but as the number of students seeking admission in computer course is too large and with only one computer working here, I couldn't manage to get admission,”said Shazia Kouser, a student.

A senior officer in the district education department on the condition of anonymity said there were about 31 higher secondary schools in the district and many had not been provided with UPS sets. “It is true that though we have provided computers in most of the schools, we have not provided UPS sets in about 40 per cent of such schools. This is because the firm supplying such sets didn't provide the same,” he said.