The Government Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya at Kakrola in West Delhi is no longer an ordinary government school with thousands of students and poor infrastructure. Earlier, the school lacked proper infrastructure for Science, but now the school secured a 100 per cent result in the stream in the Class XII exams last year.
This turnaround has been achieved due to a corporate social responsibility initiative involving Samsung Heavy Industries and NGO Plan India which, in partnership with Society for All Round Development (SARD), built new labs, improved the teaching infrastructure and installed computers in the school as part of a programme that sought to develop its information and communication technologies (ICT) facilities.
With the improved infrastructure the inclination to opt for Science has also increased. Last year, only 23 students had chosen the stream in Class XI, but the numbers have increased significantly since.
Under the project, the school has got three state-of-the-art labs with Wi-Fi technology: ICT lab, Maths and Physics lab, and Chemistry and Biology lab.
The initial focus was to promote Math and Science among Class IX children and to provide training to teachers about the effective use of technology in the classroom. Teaching is now being done through a smart class model.
The ICT lab brought with it a six-terabyte server, LCD projector, night vision camera for security purposes, laptops for children and teachers and censors with digital pen to the school. Then 30 laptops with water resistant keyboard and touch pad, battery backup, single-point charging cart for all the laptops and Intel Education Software Stacks – with Classroom Management and Access Management software were provided to run the systems.
The Classroom Management Software enables the instructor to control and manage the class effectively, supervise students’ activities and maintain a good order in class. Here, hardware giant Intel chipped in by providing “technological support and the transportation almost free of cost”.
Impressed with the way the scheme has taken off, Deputy Director Education (West B) of Delhi Government now wants to replicate the model in other schools. In addition to that, principals of 50 schools have also visited Kakrola to get a hands-on feel of the developments there. And even Haryana Government has decided to replicate the same model in 40 of its government schools in eight districts.
