9.5 lakh students in state-run schools to get free Tabs from Bengal govt for online education

Around 9.5 lakh students of class XII in state government and government-aided schools will get free Tabs from the West Bengal government for online education, chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Thursday. These students are from 14,000 Higher Secondary schools and 636 madrasa schools across the state.

Banerjee said this at a press conference in Nabanna, the state administrative headquarters. She said that students across the state have suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown restrictions. Most students in government and government-aided schools could not afford computers or smartphones for online education and have suffered. This is the reason the government had decided to provide them with Tabs.

She asked officials to estimate the cost, and asked how students from other classes could also be brought under online education. She asked officials to check if such devices could be given to schools because the government cannot afford devices for all students in all classes.

[Cover picture for representational purpose; picture courtesy idreameducation.org]