Schools in State to get laptops

[sajiv]

SALEM: About 2,500 middle schools in the State will get laptops in the current academic year.Each school will be given five laptops to improve the teaching and learning process. The tenders for procuring laptops are being finalised through the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT), said Director of Elementary Education K. Devarajan.

The remaining middle schools in the State would be given laptops within three years time. The laptops would be used to explain various concepts in science and mathematics. The initiative would ensure effective implementation of the Active Learning methodology for classes VI to VIII, he added.Mr. Devarajan said that the State government had already started equipping the primary and middle schools with television and DVD player. The supply of these equipment to the schools would be over in two months.

When asked about the opposition from a section of teachers to the implementation of Activity Based Learning (ABL), the Director said that the system was widely welcomed by the teachers. Only a few teachers associations urged the government to provide adequate number teachers to the primary schools to implement the ABL. This demand is under consideration, he said.The children are really enjoying the classes under ABL. The skills in the primary classes have improved significantly after the implementation of the ABL method, he added. The government had planned to appoint 3,500 graduate teachers in the middle schools this academic year.