Punjab ICT Education Society

Information & Communication Technology (ICT) Education Society here in after known as PICTES established in 2004-05 with the aim to impart Compulsory Computer Education to all students of class VI to XII. The Scheme is a major catalyst to bridge the digital divide amongst students of various socio economic and other geographical barriers.

In Punjab, the Project is managed by the society namely ‘Punjab ICT Education Society’ (PICTES) especially constituted for the purpose. PICTES is governed by Board of Governors (BOG). The Chief Secretary, Govt. of Punjab is its Chairman whereas the Secretary School Education is the Vice-Chairman.  Director General School Education is the member Secretary of the society.

For monitoring Quality of education and better performance of hardware installed under this project, 5 Project Coordinators at circle level (i.e. Amritsar, Bathinda, Moga, Patiala and Jalandhar) have been appointed. There are five circles in the State and a circle comprises of four/five districts. For teaching compulsory Computer Science subject, computer faculties have been appointed under ICT Project.  Whereas, Non-teaching staff are also placed for looking the administrative work and smooth functioning of the Project. Under the Project, computer labs have been established in 6134 Govt. schools (Upper Primary Schools) and 346 Govt. Aided (High & Senior Secondary) Schools.  Computer hardware including UPSs, software and LAN are installed in these labs. Broadband internet connectivity has been provided to all schools.

Goals and Objectives of ICT Education:-

q    To enable every students of the Punjab State to become “Digitally Literate”.

q    To train the school teachers in effective delivery of education by using IT tools for teaching with latest methodologies & aids.

q    To facilitate and catalyze the growth of digital economy in the state by leveraging this infrastructure and re-engineered workforce.

q    Compulsory ICT Education for all 14.5 lakhs students.

q    Create job opportunities for students and computer teachers.

q    Set up modern labs with latest IT infrastructure where students get the best of IT training.

q    Develop student & teacher competence as per NCERT and CBSE Guidelines.

q    Incorporate a Management Information System (MIS) for monitoring and reviewing the project on regular basis.

ICT@Schools Scheme:

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in schools scheme have been subsumed in the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA). Now ICT in Schools is a component of the RMSA. The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Schools was launched in December, 2004 and revised in 2010 to provide opportunities to secondary stage students to mainly build their capacity on ICT skills and make them learn through computer aided learning process. The Scheme provides financial support to States to establish computer labs on sustainable basis.

Smart School:

Under the existing Information Communication Technology in School Scheme, this Ministry has approved for coverage of 5 Smart School in the year 2010-11. Apart from this, State has 36 Smart Schools. The Smart Schools have been established in Districts by conversion of one of the existing State Government schools to serve as a role model and Technology Demonstrator among the neighbourhood schools. Apart from this, Computer Aided Learning (CAL) has also been introduced for students of classes VI to VIII. CAL is the project of SSAA, is being implemented by ICT project. To show the Multimedia Educational Contents to students of Classes VI to VIII, 4170 multimedia devices like TV&DVDs Player, LCDs with Monitors, LFDs with Monitors and K-YAN etc have been provided to schools. CDs/DVDs on Science/Maths have also been developed and distributed to schools.