HRD Ministry to equip Government schools with latest ICT services

New Delhi, Sept 2: HRD Ministry is working to boost the standing of government schools by making them equipped with latest information communication and technology (ICT) services through which parents will receive messages on their mobile phone about the attendance, homework and academic performance of their wards.

"This will be for the first time in history that anything of this sort will happen. It will make parents much more involved with the studies of their students. We will be doing geographic information system (GIS) of all government schools for this," HRD Minister Smriti Irani told reporters.

She said State Governments have been taken on board for the ambitious project and preliminary-level talks with them have taken place.

Irani also spoke about the need to have a new National Education Policy, a view expressed by her party BJP on several occasions in the past, and said the Centre will hold consultations with IITs to fix academic goals in the fields of technology and mathematics.

The last time the policy was brought out was in 1986 during former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's reign and times have changed since, she said, stressing on the need for a new policy. The policy's aim, she said, would be to "fix the course for the future".

PTI