Govt pledges ₹60,000 cr to provide digital devices to 4 cr students

New Delhi: The Union Human Resource Development Ministry on Monday, 29 June, announced that it will be spending Rs 60,000 crore over the next five years to provide digital devices to almost 40% of the students enrolled in colleges and universities in India.

The announcement was made during a presentation to the 15th Finance Commission. Devices such as laptops, tablet computers, mobile phones and television sets will be given to almost 4 crore students by 2025-26. The ministry has assumed Rs 15,000 as the average price for each device.

Of the Rs 60,000 crore, the Union government’s share will be Rs 36,473 crore over five years. The remaining amount will be borne by state governments, according to the ministry’s presentation.

An additional Rs 2,306 crore has been set aside to develop courses for the ministry’s educational channel (SWAYAM Prabha) and MOOCs platform till 2025-26.

The Ministry of Homes Affairs on Monday also released guidelines for "Unlock 2.0" which state that schools, colleges and coaching institutions will continue to remain closed till 31 July 2020. The Centre has not yet set a date for the reopening of schools.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Friday, 26 June, clarified how the performance of Class 10 and Class 12 students will be assessed, now that board exams scheduled in July stand cancelled.