Ladakh gives free tablets with educational material to govt school students [details]

As students of remotest and far-flung areas of the Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh are facing problems due to non-availability of internet and lack of devices, administration of this mountainous region has come out with a unique idea by providing preloaded educational tablets to cope-up this challenge.

Drive to distribute these specially designed tablets to all students enrolled in government schools, studying in class 6th to 12th, started on Friday. As per official data, these tablets to be distributed among 12,300 students studying in 6th to 12th standard in government schools.

Students don't need an internet connection; focus on off-line study material

Although forty learning apps have been preloaded in the tablets, the prime purpose of the tab is to serve the students in non-internet areas. The focus has been on offline study material. NCERT books have been downloaded in PDF format and preloaded classes lectures have been included class and subject-wise for the convenience of the students. Educational apps like Byjus, E-pathshala, Khan Academy, idream learning app, etc and meeting apps like Webex and Google meet have also been installed on the device.

12,300 tablets already purchased by Ladakh administration

The financial outlay of the scheme is Rs 15 crores wherein about 12,300 tablets have already been purchased. Each device has been additionally provided with a 64 GB microSD card to facilitate maximum study material incorporation.

Access to unwanted sites restricted

In order to restrict the students' access to unwanted sites, Mobile Device Manager has been incorporated in all the tablets to allow complete safe access to all the other important sites.

Procedure of distributing tablets

The scheme envisages planned distribution of tablets in a phased manner starting from students residing in those areas having no internet assess at all. Classes 9th to 12th students will be covered from these areas with gradual expansion to other classes and other areas as the tablets get loaded with content and lecturers. All the enrolled students from class 6th to 12th will be provided with tablets within 60 days of the formal launch of the scheme.

Aim and objective of this unique scheme

The aim of this unique scheme is to provide every student a digital device to mitigate the adverse effects of Covid-19 related disruptions. Provide a hybrid solution to make up for the losses due to the absence of physical classes. Supplement the traditional modes of learning and bridge the gaps in structural inequalities in students residing in different areas of Ladakh.