The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Computer education soon in 5,000 government schools

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Friday, Jun 06, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Computer education soon in 5,000 government schools

N. Rahul

HYDERABAD: The stage is set for the introduction of computer education in two months in 5,000 government schools across the State where English is also taught. Currently, about 1,000 schools offer training to children in computer skills under a special IT project of the State Government.

An order issued by the Government on Wednesday asked the Director of School Education to issue Letters of Intent to seven agencies which were allotted the hubs (districts) to implement the five year Computer Education Programme (CEP) in the 5,000 secondary schools on BOOT (Build, Own, Operate and Transfer) model. The Director was also asked to sign agreements with the agencies and take steps for immediate grounding of the Rs.300-crore project, which would be assisted by the Centre.

Government nominee

The agencies are NIIT Limited, Educomp, ECIL, Terasoft, EVERONN, Social Computers and Institute of Electronic Governance. The last named will cover Hyderabad, Khammam, Nizamabad, Rangareddy, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram.

While the first six agencies were qualified bidders who participated in a tender process, the Institute of Electronic Governance was nominated by the Government on the basis of its offer to implement the project in some district hubs. It is a society promoted by the Department of Information Technology and Communications of the State Government.

A tender approval committee consisting of C.B.S. Venkataramana, Principal Secretary, School Education, and four other senior officers recently recommended the agencies after an analysis of the financial bids submitted by them. Seven agencies had participated in the pre-qualification, technical and financial bids when they were invited in November last.

Mr. Venkataramana told The Hindu that the agencies were given two months to take up procurement of material and complete civil works like electrification and flooring of classrooms. He said the 5,000 schools would be selected out of the 6,500 schools to be developed under the Centrally-sponsored SUCCESS project.

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Andhra Pradesh