The way Kerala helped students to buy laptops for Rs 1500

Stepping into her high school campus last year, Athira Ashokan was all excited and euphoric. The jubilation had, however, soon turned into dismay as she learnt that her school would be closed indefinitely owing to Covid-19.

The school quickly went digital to finish the chapters for students, but the 13-year-old girl still struggled to follow her online classes through a tiny screen of her father’s two-year-old smart phone. She had no laptop or fast internet connection at home, and the smart phone she was using had cracks after a recent fall as well. A month into Covid-19 shutdown, her daily wage parents were tapped out. With no immediate solution in sight, the standard VIII student had almost lost all hopes to continue her high school education even as her wealthier friends enjoyed a fine online class experience.

But things are much better now, thanks to the Kerala Government which decided to distribute laptops so students devoid of electronic devices to study can learn with the new gadgets they have now. As per the project, the KSFE and the Kudumbashree would join hands to provide students the financial assistance to buy the laptop. KSFE would provide monetary aid to the Kudumbashree units through Micro Chitty to buy Laptops. An interesting feature of this programme is that the laptops will have specifications prescribed by the Kerala State Education Department.

The first-of-its-kind project, which saw KSFE open a micro chitty of Rs 15,000 for those requiring the gadget, could provide laptops to students facing difficulties in attending online classes. Students like Anitha can now own a laptop for Rs 1500 paid in three-month installment of Rs 500.

The Chitty period is 30 months and by completing the third payment, students can officially lay their hands on the laptop. As these devices are priced only at Rs 15,000, Kudumbashree members can take the balance amount after completing all the installments.

Comments

State Govt ensures students get textbook on time

When every new academic year kicks off, the biggest challenge for teachers is not simply getting the students to read or take proper notes — it is getting them the textbooks right on time for their study. Some students opt to use second-hand textbooks when books are not readily available, but not many are fortunate enough to have seniors around them willing to give away course materials. Luckily for these students – and for teachers too, the first volume of textbooks will arrive by April 15. Over three crore textbooks for the 2020-21 academic year have been printed and are ready to ship. Like the previous academic years in school, the government made constant efforts to ensure the students receive their textbooks on time for study. Distributed by the Kerala Books and Publication Society (KBPS), the textbooks are being published in three volumes, the first of which is now ready for distribution. As many as 3.3 lakh textbooks have now been published in Arabi, Urdu...

Kerala launches India's 1st digital varsity, set to be global hub for e-learning

Over the past five years, Kerala has been a state of trend setters. So it should come as no surprise that the state, which has already launched a lot of first-in-the-country projects, came up with another in the form of a digital university. As is customary for Kerala in most of the previous projects, this one too is a pathbreaking venture in the country. It was Governor of Kerala Arif Mohammed Khan who inaugurated Kerala University of Digital Sciences Innovation and Technology based in Technocity at Mangalapuram, the first phase of which now completed with an academic and hostel block. The varsity is an outcome of the state's resolve to embrace new technologies and the continued efforts to use them for producing positive changes in people. It is expected to be a global hub for higher learning and technology. Setting international standards in digital education for higher studies, the varsity will provide a digital platform for those wanting to pursue postgraduate and r...

Power blackout is now a history in Kerala

It seems the days when Kerala depended heavily on the Udumalpet-Palakkad line for electricity is now a thing of the past. With the state government commissioning the Edamon-Kochi corridor in the Tirunelveli-Madakkathara inter-state power transmission corridor things are moving at a fast pace. The completion of this project is a landmark moment that makes way for giant strides in the domains of power transmission supply and agriculture of the state. The new power transmission network strengthened the power import capacity of the state by 800 MW and also enables Kerala to bring in power from any part of the country. With the completion of Edamon- Kochi 400 KV line (148.3 km), Tirunelveli- Kochi-Thrissur- Udumalpettu 400 KV power highway (437 km) becomes a reality. Palakkad, Kottayam and Kochi see a spike of 2 kV after the line was charged. The new Edamon-Kochi corridor lessens the state's dependency on the Udumalpet-Palakkad line and allays fears of a complete ...

Kerala Forward

Search This Blog