JOIN USTabs for school contest winners
The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has decided to reward State-level winners of various school competitions with tablet computers in addition to the usual cash prize, from this year onwards.
Winners of Prathibha Karanji, the cultural and talent competition in government schools, Vigyana Mela, the science competition, and Kreeda Mela, the sports competition, will receive tablets besides the cash rewards.
The first recipients of the tablets will be the State-level winners of previous year’s competitions and this is likely to be continued in the subsequent years. Siddalinga Swamy, senior assistant director of public instruction (SADPI), said, “A total of 48 tablets will be given to the winners in addition to cash prizes of Rs 7,000 each. The tablets will be given out within a week’s time.”
Of the 48 winners, 31 won at the Prathibha Karanji, 11 won at the Vigyana Mela and 11 others won at the sports competition. Each winner has been allocated Rs 20,000, of which Rs 12,000 is reserved for the tablet and Rs 7,000 is to be given as cash prize. “A total of Rs 10 lakh has been allocated for the entire scheme of the prizes as of now,” Swamy said. The district- and taluk-level toppers in the SSLC exam are being given desktop computers for the last four years. When asked about the usefulness of tablets to students, especially those in rural areas, Mohammed Mohsin, Commissioner, DPI, said, “Children should be given a chance to explore technology, and by offering such opportunities, government schools will send out a message to others that they are not far behind.
“These days, children are very smart and can handle any gadget. A study was conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology,, Delhi, in which a number of children living in slums were given a computer and given the freedom to do whatever they liked, and they were finally able to figure out what to do. This is just an example of how children’s progress is very fast,” he added.