VIKAS SHARMA
JAMMU, MAR 15: As the internet connectivity has bring a revolution in almost every field including the Education Sector wherein smart schools/classrooms are becoming the norm, but the stark reality is that Internet Connectivity in majority of the schools in the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir is still a distant dream.
The poor internet connectivity can be gauged from the fact that of total 28,805 schools in the UT, a meager 8566 schools have Internet Facility. This has been revealed in the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) report released by the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education.
Of total 28,805 schools in J&K, 23173 schools are government, 1 government aided school, 5526 private unaided schools and 105 other schools. As far as break-up wise is concerned, of total 23173 government schools in J&K UT, only 5169 (22.3 percent) schools have internet facility whereas 3345 (60.5 percent) private unaided schools out of 5526 have internet facility. Similarly, of total 105 other schools, 51 schools (48.6 percent) have internet facilities and the only government aided school also has internet facility. Overall, only 29.7 all management schools have internet facilities, which is a real cause of concern.
J&K UT is among six worst performing States in terms of internet connectivity in government schools. Uttar Pradesh (only 12,074 out of 1,37,024 schools have internet; 8.81 percent), Bihar (4,421 out of 75,558 schools; 5.85 percent), Odisha (3,970 out of 49,072 schools; 8.09 percent), Madhya Pradesh (16,469 out of 92,695 schools; 17.77 percent), Maharashtra (18,450 out of 65,639 schools; 28.25 percent) and West Bengal (12,918 out of 83,302 schools; 15.51 percent).
There are over 10 lakh government schools across the country, but only 2 lakh have internet facilities, Minister of State for Education Subhas Sarkar had recently informed the Lok Sabha. Delhi is the only state where all the 2,762 government schools have internet facilities. In Puducherry (422) and Chandigarh (123) too, all the government schools are equipped with internet connectivity, Sarkar said in a written reply.
UDISE data further stated that only 24.9 percent Government Schools (Upper Primary, Secondary and Higher Secondary) in the UT have ICT Labs, out of which mere 21.5 percent are functional. The total strength of government and government aided schools with Upper Primary, Secondary and Higher Secondary sections is 10199, out of which 2544 have ICT Labs and only 2196 labs are functional in J&K.