Launched by Khattar, how Haryana's Rs 700-cr tablet scheme for govt school students has fallen apart

The Print

7 days ago

With no internet access, the tablets have become little more than expensive paperweights for thousands of students, most of whom hail from economically weaker sections, including Scheduled Castes and backward classes.
The reason? The government has failed to recharge the SIM cards that came with these devices, leaving students unable to access the Personalised Adaptive Learning (PAL) app, a key feature meant to provide digital study material.
Gurugram: Nearly 5 lakh tablets worth Rs 700 crore, distributed by the Haryana government to students of classes 10 to 12 under a scheme in 2022, are gathering dust across the state.
The ambitious e-Adhigam scheme, launched with much fanfare in 2022 under then-chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, aimed to bridge the digital divide for government school students.
However, three years later, the initiative lies in shambles, drawing sharp criticism from teachers, school administrators and education experts who say the government's lack of foresight has let down the very students it sought to uplift.
The tablet distribution scheme was first announced in April 2022, with the BJP government approving the procurement of 5 lakh tablets at a cost of Rs 620 crore, alongside Rs 47 crore worth of SIM cards, to provide free internet with a daily data limit of 2 GB.
An additional Rs 5 crore was allocated for the PAL software, designed to offer e-books, test videos and study materials tailored to the curriculum of classes 10 to 12.
During the budget session of the Haryana Assembly in March 2022, the then education minister Kanwar Pal had assured lawmakers that the initiative would 'fill the chasm in digital learning' for those students who could not afford gadgets like smartphones or tablets.
The tablets were distributed in May and June 2022 in government schools across the state.
At the time, the government hailed the move as a game-changer, particularly for students from Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes who form a significant portion of the student population in these schools.
'The devices will have preloaded content, along with personalised and adaptive learning software, and free internet data will also be provided,' Pal had said in May 2022, shortly before the distribution began.
On 23 May this year, the Directorate of School Education issued a letter to all district education officers, instructing students to use internet facilities at home or rely on broadband at schools 'wherever available.' Teachers and school principals have slammed the directive as 'divorced from reality'.
'The students who come to government schools are generally poor. A good majority are from the Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes. How can the government expect them to have broadband at home? Parents who can afford such luxuries send their children to private schools, not government ones,' a senior secondary school teacher in Rohtak district told ThePrint on Wednesday.
A school principal in Fatehabad district echoed this sentiment, saying that even schools lack the infrastructure to support the government's directive.
'Most government schools don't have broadband facilities. The government provides cash stipends, bicycles, books, and uniforms to attract students from marginalized communities, but what's the point if they can't access the study material on these tablets?' the principal asked.
In Panipat, another teacher highlighted the irony of the situation. 'First, the government made these students dependent on the internet by giving them tablets with SIM cards. They spent more time on Instagram and YouTube than on the PAL app. But now, the government has stopped providing internet, making the tablets useless,' the teacher said.
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Tablets turn into tools for entertainment
The misuse of tablets has been a persistent issue since their distribution. With free internet access, many students used the devices for non-educational purposes, such as making reels or scrolling through social media.
'The government created a problem by giving them unrestricted internet access in the first place. Now, they've taken it away entirely, leaving the students with nothing,' the Panipat teacher contended.
Haryana Education Minister Mahipal Dhanda could not be contacted, as the person who answered calls said he was busy meeting workers.
In August 2023, ThePrint had reported that sarpanchs had written to the additional chief secretary, school education, to take back the tablets provided to children. The children, they had said, were misusing these gadgets.
Pankaj Agarwal, Principal Secretary to the Haryana Government in the School Education Department, acknowledged the misuse of gadgets.
'We've received complaints that students are using the tablets for other activities like making reels or staying active on platforms like Instagram and YouTube,' he told ThePrint.
To address this, Agarwal said he has sent a proposal to the state government, which is yet to be approved. The proposal includes two key changes: providing internet leaselines to schools for a stable connection and restricting tablet usage to school hours, rather than allowing students to take the devices home.
'This will ensure that the tablets are used for educational purposes only,' Agarwal said. However, with the proposal still pending approval, students remain in limbo.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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