Only a small fraction of government schools in India have access to internet facilities, with just 2 lahks out of over 10 lakh schools equipped, Minister of State for Education Subhas Sarkar informed the Lok Sabha on Monday. According to a written reply by Sarkar, all 2,762 government schools in Delhi have internet facilities. In addition, all government schools in Puducherry (422) and Chandigarh (123) are also equipped with internet connectivity.

Lakshadweep comes in second with 37 out of 38 schools having internet connectivity, as per the Unified District Information System for Education developed by the education ministry. Kerala leads among the states, with 4,738 out of 5,010 government schools having internet, while other southern states have low connectivity rates. In Karnataka, only 5,308 out of 49,679 government schools have internet, while in Tamil Nadu, 9,292 out of 37,636 and in Andhra Pradesh, 20,313 out of 45,137 schools are equipped. States such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar are among those performing poorly. The department of school education and literacy has issued an advisory to all states and UTs to provide FTTH internet connections to all government schools by signing an agreement with BSNL, according to Sarkar.

Read Also : Will make education in Punjab and Delhi best in the world: Kejriwal tells school principals

Power corridor

India to be developed as ‘aviation hub’

Union minister VK Singh on Monday informed the Rajya Sabha that the government is working to create an aviation hub in India. In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Singh said the civil aviation ministry has consulted the stakeholders and also asked the aviation industry to come together to develop India as a hub for aviation. He also said that the airlines are inducting wide-body aircraft and increasing their fleet size.

Over 250 KVs in temporary spaces

Union education minister Subhash Sarkar informed the RS that more than 250 Kendriya Vidyalaya (KVs) across the country are functioning in temporary buildings. In a written reply, he said, “As per information no KV is operational in rented accommodation but functional in temporary buildings.”

‘No project to rewrite history'

The Indian Council of Historical Research has not launched any project to rewrite Indian history but is working on incorporating all prominent figures and incidents that are not part of history books”, said Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday in the Lok Sabha.