Bhawanipatna: The e-Vidyalaya project aimed at imparting computer education to students in their schools is in a shambles in Kalahandi district following the abrupt closure of computer training in schools for seven months, a report said.
Students have been deprived of computer education in their schools while the computer systems worth several lakhs of rupees are rotting in the laboratories of various schools without being put to use.
Members of the district coordinators association and parents have drawn the attention of opposition leader Pradipta Nayak in this regard. The opposition leader has assured them to question the state government on the issue in the Assembly session.
This has happened as all the school coordinators and computer teachers working under the project in various blocks in the district have lost their jobs following the expiry of their contract. The e-Vidyalaya project is lying closed in the district as the state government did not make any efforts to renew their contract following the expiry of their term.
That students have been deprived of computer education has sparked sharp resentment among parents and guardians. They are displeased as the state government is not taking steps to make computer laboratories functional again.
Sources said the e-Vidyalaya programme designed to bring in e-learning to government schools was inaugurated by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in 2014.
The programme aimed at providing easy access to technology designed to help students learn beyond regular classroom studies beginning with the set up of ICT labs.
The scheme was launched under Odisha Madhyamik Sikshya Mission (OMSM) and aimed to reach 4,000 government schools in the first phase and an additional 2,000 government schools in the second phase for which an amount of Rs 746 crore was earmarked for the project.
The scheme aims to give equal opportunities for utilisation of technology to those in disadvantaged socio-economic and geographical situations.
The project was in operation in 110 schools in the district after the Odisha Madhyamik Sikshya Mission signed a five-year contract with private owned Infrastructure Leasing and Finance Service Education Ltd in 2014. However, with the expiry of the five-year term, the state government did not make any efforts to renew the contract leading to the collapse of the project in the district.
