The Internet can become a powerful learning tool by making available knowledge regarding varied feels to students. One need not buy expensive books to access latest information, as internet offers an excellent opportunity for students to learn from various reliable sources.
The numerous benefits that internet offers regarding education one might assume that it must be an integral part of the schooling system in the country. But the latest report from the Human Resource Development Ministry portrays a dismal picture when it comes to schools with internet connectivity in India.
As per the report shared by Mr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank in Lok Sabha on 25th November 2019, more than 90% of government schools in 15 states and union territories in India do not have access to the internet facility.
When it comes to union territories, the newly carved union territory of Jammu and Kashmir paints a dismal picture with only 2.98% of government schools offering internet access to students. Same is the story with the state of Uttar Pradesh where almost 97.68% of the government schools are unable to provide the internet facility to the students.
The total number of government schools in Uttar Pradesh being 1288. Other biggest states like Karnataka, Bihar, and Odisha also lag behind with only 3.75%, 3.07%, and 8.7% of the schools offering internet access to students respectively.
On the brighter side, union territories of Chandigarh and Delhi fare brilliantly on these parameters with 100% and 99.1% of the schools offering internet access to students respectively. When it comes to states, Kerala leads the table with almost 84.07% of government schools offering internet facility to students.
The above facts were shared by the HRD minister while replying to a query raised by Mr Rajiv Pratap Rudy regarding the number and percentage of schools in the country with facilities of electricity, toilet, and internet. The report shared pertains to students from Class 6th to Class 12th.