1,332 primary, upper primary schools turn smart in Ludhiana district

Nitin Jain

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 31

To strengthen school education and improve learning levels of students through ICT-based education, all government primary and upper primary schools, barring four, have turned smart in Ludhiana district, the administration has confirmed.

Smart vs ordinary schools

A smart school, as specified in the policy, was distinguished from any ordinary school. Smart school is a technology-based teaching and learning institution, which prepares children for the information and knowledge-based society, besides contributing to their holistic development. Each smart school was equipped with a separate, spacious, airy and well-ventilated classroom for every section of class as per pupil-teacher ratio with a green and whiteboard.

With 1,332 of the total 1,336 schools becoming smart, the district has achieved a 99.7 per cent milestone under the government’s smart school policy, the officials have said.

Deputy Commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma told The Tribune here on Tuesday that all 343 upper primary schools in the district have turned smart, achieving 100 per cent distinction, while 989 of the total 993 primary schools, which account for 99.59 per cent, have also become smart.

It was in September 2019 that the state government had launched the smart school policy to ensure quality and value-based education for all, besides augmenting the existing infrastructure in government schools.

Terming it as a step towards revolutionising the education sector in the state, Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla said the government was committed to spruce up the existing facilities in state schools while exhorting community leaders, NRIs, and NGOs to come forward in complementing the government efforts.

According to the policy, anybody could contribute for the improvement of infrastructure in the government schools as per their requirements and with the approval of respective school management committees.

Such a block or building on the school premises built with the help of donation will be named after the donor or any other person in whose name the donor wants to get the block dedicated.

All such proposals were forwarded by the schools on the portal to obtain necessary confirmation regarding the donor or the person on whose name the building was to be named. Approvals were granted online by the competent authority.

Maintaining that the availability of classrooms, playgrounds, educational parks, science laboratories and toilets impact the quality of education, Singla said various studies revealed that the performance of students in such schools was better than those who study in schools with poor and insufficient infrastructure.

A smart school, as specified in the policy, was distinguished from any ordinary school. Smart school is a technology-based teaching and learning institution, which prepares children for the information and knowledge-based society, besides contributing to their holistic development. Each smart school was equipped with a separate, spacious, airy and well-ventilated classroom for every section of class as per pupil-teacher ratio with a green and whiteboard.

Besides adequate furniture for all students, separate required number of functional toilets for girls and boys, free sanitary napkins for girls, well-equipped principal, headmaster room, including staff rooms, well-equipped science laboratories, vocational laboratories, ICT laboratories and other requisite facilities were provided for the students and teachers of the smart schools.