CHENNAI: Schools in Tamil Nadu are set to reap the benefits of space-age technology with the State project directorate of the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) launching a project to digitally map all schools to cover `bald patches'.

The project, School GIS, will use the Geographic Information System and the Global Positioning System to spatially generate digital format maps under the District Information System for Education (DISE). The maps will be used to generate data on which habitations do not have access to schools and which schools need to be upgraded. Schools low on performance and enrolments will be identified.

"Mapping has already been completed in 11 districts and the results have been excellent. Now, within a matter of minutes, planners can get digital maps of any school they want in any area. The mapping is being done at block, district, village, taluk and panchayat levels to aid in better implementation of the SSA," says a senior SSA official. The Rs. 96-lakh project, funded by Central and State Governments on a 75:25 basis, is being carried out by Madurai Kamaraj University and Bharathidasan University. Mapping in the remaining districts will be completed in the next few months.

The DISE has been revised this year to include data on unrecognised schools.

Tamil Nadu was the first State to achieve complete coverage under DISE in 2004-05 and the reports thus generated will be shared with stakeholders at various levels, SSA officials say.

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