Virtual classroom at civic schools soon

Under the virtual classroom system,the best teachers available with the civic schools would be selected to impart education to all using latest technological means,said M S Devnikar,additional municipal commissioner of PMC. “The selected teachers will hold sessions in a studio that will be telecast live in all the schools,” he said. “The standard of education in civic schools is poor compared to that in private schools. There is a need to bring the students of civic schools on a par with other school students,” said Devnikar,adding,“The concept of virtual classroom is being introduced to bring in the needed transformation and it will be introduced from coming academic year.”

PMC Education Officer Ramchandra Jadhav said the education board has started the process of appointing private companies for the project. The civic body will set up studios and install screens in classrooms in every school. The existing teachers will be given specific roles. Even as a few select conduct sessions from studios,the rest will work as coordinators at various schools and ensure proper execution of the project. The system can also be used for running software educational packages,he said.

There are around 1.25 lakh students in 286 PMC schools in 140 buildings. Of 286,211 are Marathi medium schools,40 English medium and the remaining of other Indian languages. The civic body plans to set up 10 virtual classrooms in one school building which means in all 1,400 screens with projectors,speakers,microphone,inverter for power backup would be installed.

Urmila Saptarishi,member of PMC Education Board,said the idea sounded good but a detailed discussion was needed before implementation. “The PMC schools need to create better environment for education,” she said.