Shillong, Jan 14 (IANS) Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Tuesday handed over M-Tab (learning tablets) to students of West Garo Hills at a programme held in Tura.
The M-Tab is an initiative of the Meghalaya CM’s Student Digital Learning Scheme, which aims to promote e-education in the state. The tablet is loaded with comprehensive contents related to Higher Secondary level examinations for all streams, including contents, mock question papers, past questions, and solved answer papers for various competitive examinations. It also has high-quality audio-video, animation and 3D graphic content.
In his address at the programme at the district auditorium, Sangma said: “The handheld device is not just a gadget. It is a tool to empower our youth. We want to ensure that our youth get access to learning and are better equipped to face different examinations.”
“This programme is to let you know that we care about you, to let you know that we trust you,” he asserted, while stating that technology is changing every aspect of lives.
“This government believes that in whatever way possible we must strengthen the use of technology to ensure that we can make the learning more impactful, the learning more meaningful, the learning more exciting and enjoyable,” the Chief Minister said.
He said that digital learning through audio-video and pictorial content makes learning more easier and simpler.
“We strongly feel that more and more use of technology at the grassroots level… smart classrooms, digital learning will aid our students… but remember, technology is only an enabler. It can only enable you to learn in an easier way,” he said.
Sangma also said that the government has accorded priority to developing IT-related sectors in the state, including setting up IT parks in Shillong and Tura and laying optical fibres.
“We hope that this project will be completed in the next two years. We are hopeful that every school will be getting access to the optical fibres. It will take time, but the process has started,” he said.
He also noted that the existing IT park in Shillong is catering to clients from the US and Europe.
“Our boys and girls from Meghalaya are working for AI companies. They are providing AI companies in the US, and Europe with solutions that predict crop disease, rain, growth of the plant, requirement of water, etc. All this is being done from Meghalaya, this is the kind of transformation that is taking place,” he added.
Around 1 lakh tablets have been distributed from 2021 to Class 11 students. In the 2023-24 academic session, 30,480 students received the benefit of the scheme, as per the Directorate of School Education and Literacy. In the West Garo Hills district, around 3,000 M-Tabs will be distributed. In Tuesday’s distribution, over 400 students from 21 different higher secondary schools received the tablets. Close to 5,700 teachers from different higher secondary schools in the state will also receive the tablet, which will facilitate e-learning and assessments.
Speaker Thomas A. Sangma was also present at the programme.
The Vidya Samiksha Kendra, a learning management App designed by the state Department of Information and Technology, aimed to monitor learning outcomes, is also helping the teachers to monitor and assess the outcomes of the students.
–IANS
tdr/vd
