In Barabanki, a bordering district of Lucknow, students are now getting to study in smart classes instead of regular classes under the Udbhav Abhiyan programme. An initiative of IAS officer Sumit Yadav, so far 11 primary schools of the Basic Education Department have started such smart classes under the pilot project.A 43-inch smart TV, bluetooth speaker, wi-fi router, pen drive, UPS and a white board have been provided in each smart class, at an average cost of around Rs 35 thousand.
This initiative of the young IAS officer, posted as SDM in Nawabganj tehsil, is being implemented through active public cooperation. Indian Masterminds interacted with Mr. Sumit Yadav and got to know more about this initiative.
UDBHAV CAMPAIGN
According to Mr. Yadav, the main objective of this initiative is to improve the standard of education. He said that his initiative will definitely reduce the gap between government and private schools.
He said, “We wanted to improve the quality of the education system in our schools. While we were deliberating o different options, the idea of Smart Classes came. Since smart TVs have come, it has become easier to start smart classes. First of all, we installed 43-inch smart TV and and arranged WiFi. We also installed UPS so that there is no problem immediately when there is power cut. So far, we have made this arrangement in 11 schools. But our target is 100 schools this year.”
The Disha App of Basic Education Department is also being used for all smart classes.
WITH PUBLIC SUPPORT AND CSR
One special thing is that this entire campaign is being implemented with public cooperation. Mr. Yadav said, “We approached many people to extend help in this initiative. We also persuaded companies to help under their CSR. We give them the freedom to adopt any school of their choice and formally launch the smart classes funded by them in a function in the school. If they want their name to be written on a board outside the school, it is being done.In this way, the public also comes to know about the generous donor.”
The officer further said that care was taken not to make the project so expensive that people cannot adopt a school. “So, we did what we could with minimum cost. The budget was very less. We are now trying to link this campaign with the ‘Kayakalp Abhiyan’ of the Uttar Pradesh government. Under this campaign, public amenities will be improved in schools and cleanliness will be maintained.”
HOW TO HELP
To become a part of ‘Udbhav Abhiyan’, social workers and social organizations can contact SDM Sumit Yadav on 9454416145. He has also created a WhatsApp group, in which all the people associated with this campaign have been added.
