The Higher Education Department is all set to introduce “virtual classrooms” in colleges from July this year with an aim to overcome shortage of faculty members.
In the first phase, 60 colleges of the State have been selected for introduction of the facility. The project will be implemented at a cost of Rs 2 crore with the technical support from the Orissa Space Applications Centre (ORSAC) and financial support from the World Bank. At present, two leading colleges each from the 30 districts will be fitted with video-conference equipment and other modern technologies.
later, the facility will be extended to other colleges, said sources in the Higher Education Department. “Earlier, we have set a target to start the project from March this year. But due to cyclone Phailin and other reasons, it got delayed,” said an official, adding that the video-conferencing facilities will solve the teacher shortage problems.