Five schoold in Kerala have been designated 5 “Smart Schools” under the ‘ICT in Schools Scheme’ of the state. They are expected to serve as a model for other schools for effective ICT learning backed with necessary infrastructure amenities. The 5 selected schools include Government Moyans Memorial Girls Higher Secondary School (GMMGHSS) Palakkad, Government Tribal Higher Secondary School (GTHSS) Poomala in Idukki district, Government Girls Higher Secondary School (GGHSS) Cotton Hill in Thiruvananthapuram district, Government Higher Secondary School (GHSS) Karuvarakundu in Malappuram district and Government Higher Secondary School (GHSS) South Ezhippuram in Ernakulam district. “Each of the Smart Schools would receive financial assistance of
Rs 2.5 million per year for a period of 5 years, thus totaling to Rs 12.5 million per school to facilitate ICT infrastructure development and this process would take off this year itself”, says K.Anvar Sadath, Executive Director, IT@School Project.
The Smart Schools would also receive grants for meeting the recurring expenditure for implementation. Besides having state of art computer labs and multi-media rooms, all classrooms ranging from Primary section to Higher Secondary section will have Smart Classrooms by setting up Multimedia projectors and laptops. Wireless internet connectivity would also be provided to all classrooms. Apart from these, the Smart Schools would also ensure maximum utilization of digital contents and an effective e-governance mechanism will also be implemented in these schools. Through this process, IT@School aims at upgrading the schools to an international standard in a phased manner and gradually Laptops/ Netbooks would be provided to all students.
It is also proposed to develop these schools as ‘IT Hubs’ for the benefit of nearby schools and even to public, by ensuring the round-the-clock assistance of School IT Co-ordinators and by providing specific ICT training to all teachers and Student School IT Co-ordinators. The schools which are now selected as Smart Schools are chosen on the basis of achievements such as IT Award winners, Model ICT School activities, Performance in Technology side in Haritha Vidyalayam Educational Reality Show etc.

The Smart School programme is an  extended module of the ICT in School Scheme which is being implemented in 4071 schools in the State, effecting improved ICT enabled learning processes. Also this year IT@School Project has implemented the Model ICT School programme in selected schools in each of the 140 constituencies in the State, through which a minimum of 5 classrooms in these schools were upgraded as Smart Classrooms where ICT equipments were installed and made use of.

(Some of the schools are already ‘smart’: See this report in The Hindu: http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/kids/article603823.ece )
Dec 31 2010