As a birthday gift to the 47,000 school students in the State, Chief Minister handed over that many tablet computers launching the “cyber-student” scheme of the State Government.
On a special birthday, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who turned 58, as the clock struck 13/12/13, which incidentally were also six digits of a mobile number formerly used by him, said that he hoped his “gifts” would be used for imparting knowledge.
“I normally do not celebrate my birthday by organising such programmes but since this deals with imparting of knowledge, I said ok to this function,” Parrikar said.
The function, organised by the State Education department and chaired by Education Minister and ‘birthday boy’ Parrikar, nearly 800 school students were presented tablet computers.
Deputy education director Anil Powar told mediapersons that over 47,000 students of Class V and VI across Goa are eligible for the tablet and the same would be disbursed to them by January.
Parrikar said that he would like that teachers be given the tabs and be trained in their usage.
“Teachers will be trained in these tabs too. Class teacher should also be given tabs so that they also learn and help the students to understand how it functions and use it for education purposes,” Parrikar said.
The Chief Minister, however cautioned the students against using the tabs only for games and that they should also use the educational tools and apps which are pre-loaded on the tabs.
Goa was the first State in the country to provide free personal computers to students when Parrikar was Chief Minister ten years ago. After coming to power, the State Government has already distributed free laptops to higher secondary students.