Digitisation takes a toll on BMC schools
MUMBAI: The ‘interactive panels’ set up in the city civic schools have been facing technical issues for the last two months. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) installed 1,300 such panels for the digital classroom project to provide smart education to its students in June.
Six ‘interactive panels’ in the Colaba municipal school have been shut and several times the school authorities have complained, sources said. However, the mechanic did not come to repair it.
Shivnath Darade, Mumbai’s Shikshak Parishad office bearer, stated that the students could not receive smart education through this panel in the Bandra school as the curriculum does not match.
“The panels in Worli have been shut down for the past several months. For this, the teachers have provided a router and internet facilities with the funds given to the school. But only the secondary sector is benefiting from this,” he said. “The primary department is not benefiting from this.”
Darade added that the students are not able to study as some parts of the course are not available in the school in Parel.
Darade said, “These panels were sent to the schools in June without any thought about the criteria for selecting the schools or for which grade these panels are useful. You need internet access initially to upgrade the panel. In many places, internet access was not present.”
He said that in many schools, teachers update the panel using their mobile hotspots. Darade said that many schools have complained to the concerned company, but they are not getting service on time.
Rajesh Kankal, municipal education officer said, “BMC buys 1,300 ‘interactive panels’ every year for students at a cost of ₹2,42,000. It includes the cost of providing educational content, after-sales service, etc. The company is providing services to schools. If there are any complaints, they will be redressed.”