Only 1 in 5 computers distributed to Government schools as part of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is working, say school principals, educationists
Nearly 945 computers have been distributed as part of the SSA in government and municipal schools across the city and the state. Money was also spent on constructing 3,485 laboratories, many of which still don’t have even one computer.
While school authorities said putting an exact number to the non-functional computers was not possible, they said only one in five was working in each school.
Only one of the five computers was working and I wrote a letter to the concerned office in the education department about this problem, but nobody was sent to repair or replace it.
They are gathering dust,” said Raj Aloni, principal, Sir JJ Fort Boys’ High School.
“Computers were provided according to the strength of students in the schools,” said Nasir Shaikh, vice-president (Urdu division), Brihanmumbai Mahanagarpalika Shikshan Sangh, “Eight to 10 computers were provided to schools with a large number of students and those with less students got a maximum of five.
The computers are not working properly, however, and there is no one to repair them.
Rahul Prasoon, a social worker in the field of education, said, “There are 1,400 BMC schools in Mumbai. The government is spending a good amount of money on providing teaching aids but is failing to ensure that the equipment is in working order. Maintenance is also poor.”
“Our school has not received any computer under the SSA yet even though it is government-aided and, thus, eligible for it,” said the principal of a government-aided school.