Koraput: High-speed internet, interactive screen, web cameras, digital podium, 3-D animation, graphs, interactive topographical sheets, animated videos, and virtual laboratories for science – these are some of the new facilities available to students of Kukuli High School under Borigumma block in Odisha’s Koraput district.
“It’s an attempt to bridge the digital divide and to provide students with a better classroom experience. Undoubtedly, the smart classes will enhance the student-teacher interaction and will give students a better understanding of concepts,” Koraput Collector Abdaal Muhammed Akhtar told IndiaToday.in.
The block administration has spent around Rs 5 lakh for setting up the smart classroom in the school, established in 1956 with a student strength of 410, including 200 girls. The high school is at a distance of about 60 km from the district headquarters.
“No special fund was allocated for the smart classroom. The smart classroom was prepared with the convergence of various schemes under the central finance commission (CFC),” Satyanarayana Sethi, assistant engineer, Borigumma block was quoted as saying by IndiaToday.in. According to the official, in addition to the smart classroom, the block authorities have established an open gym and a children’s park for the overall development of the students.
“Studying in smart classrooms is a completely new experience for us and we are very happy about it. Now getting one in our own school makes us proud. We can download study material and store it in a pen drive to use it in the future,” Subha Laxmi Hota, a Class IV student was quoted as saying.
The district administration has now decided to convert classrooms of at least one school in the 14 blocks of the district into smart classrooms with funds from the district mineral foundation (DMF). “Presently, it has been decided to provide smart classrooms for Class IX and X students and subsequently it will be provided to students of Class VI to VIII,” the collector told IndiaToday.in.
“Apart from schools of the state education department, Adarsh Vidyalayas and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalas have been included under the project to be converted into smart classrooms,” he added.