Govt plans data connected tablets for schools

All telecom licencees contribute 5% of their adjusted gross revenues to USOF

Higher secondary school students in remote areas might get tablets with data connections if the Telecom Commission approves of a Rs 4,972 crore scheme.

This scheme is proposed by the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) which is contributed to by all telecom operators.

All telecom licencees contribute 5% of their adjusted gross revenues to this fund, which is used to provide affordable telecom services to remote areas.

The scheme would be funded by the USOF for rural areas and similar arrangements for urban areas would be funded by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

The scheme proposes to provide 90 lakh students across the country in the eleventh and twelfth standards with tablets which would have pre-loaded education-related content.

The USOF also proposed that state-owned BSNL would have to be awarded the work, on a nomination basis. “Amendment of relevant Indian Telegraph Rules would be required to nominate BSNL for the execution of the work,” said the USOF in a letter to the commission. A copy of this letter has been reviewed by Business Standard.

After obtaining the recommendations of the Telecom Commission, the DoT would go to Parliament for the approval of the scheme. The scheme, which looks to provide tablets over three years, estimates the cost of a tablet at Rs 3,500 per unit and Rs 1,500 for data charges for two years.

Each beneficiary would get this benefit for a maximum period of two years in the eleventh and twelfth classes. The scheme would be extended for four years. This scheme would be executed in a phased manner reaching to 15 lakh beneficiaries in the first year, 35 lakh in the next and 40 lakh in the third year.

“Tablet devices are increasingly becoming powerful and compact tools for computation and accessing multimedia content and services are available on the Internet using broadband technologies. They can become an asset to students by providing access to to education-related content and applications available on the Internet,” said the letter.

The equipment number of the tablet and the SIM would be bundled to ensure safeguards. The tablet would display a specific scheme logo. Any software that is downloaded onto the device would be linked to biometrics and passwords.

“The scheme would be enforced by random inspections, certification of accounts by the executing agency and monitoring of USOF, so as to ensure that the expected benefits flow to the target beneficiaries,” the USOF said.