Patna, June 8: The state education department has decided to launch "smart" virtual classrooms in government schools.

Once implemented, a teacher delivering a lecture at a classroom can be seen and heard by students in classrooms elsewhere in the state trough digital connection.

In the initial stages, the "smart" virtual classrooms will be introduced only for senior students. With the recent poor Intermediate results exposing the poor quality of education in government schools, as also the inadequate teacher strength there, the state has decided to introduce virtual classrooms in government schools to bridge the teacher-students ratio.

"The government is working on its plan to set up virtual classrooms in all high schools in a phased manner so that students get quality education," state education minister Ashok Choudhary said yesterday.

Sources said this is not the first time the minister talked about virtual classrooms. On earlier occasions, too, he has talked of starting virtual classrooms in high schools.

Considering the infrastructure in government schools, such as electricity and computer connectivity, the government plan seems a Herculean task. "The plan to starting virtual classrooms is a noble one, but before doing so the government must create infrastructure in schools," said Shatrughan Prasad Singh, general secretary of Bihar Madhyamik Shikshak Sangh. "Over 80 per cent schools in the state have no power connection, forget computer access."

The Shikshak Sangh's statement assumes significance because according to a District Information System for Education (DISE) survey conducted nationwide, Bihar is the worst state in terms of schools having computer connections. As per DISE survey (2015-16), only 7.6 per cent schools have computer connections and 34.9 per cent schools have power. In contrast, around 73.8 per cent schools in Gujarat have computer connectivity and 99.7 per cent power connection.

"Virtual or smart classrooms are a modern concept," Sanjay Kumar Sinha, an assistant professor at NIT-Patna, said. "Computers, projectors, electronic white boards, web cameras and audio-visual aids are some tools required for smart classrooms, which hinge on transmission and receipt of messages. Visuals of a teacher giving lecture in a classroom is transmitted live to different schools where students can not only see and hear the teacher, but also ask questions. Internet connection of at least 500 mbps is required."

A teacher at the government boys' high school in Shastri Nagar said on condition of anonymity: "Going by the infrastructure required for virtual classrooms, it appears it will be challenging affair." He said that last year, during the online registration for Intermediate and matriculation examinations, many schools made their students do so from cyber cafes and computer training institutes in their area, as their schools did not have computer connections.

The dependence of these schools led to hacking of student data by cyber cafes and computer training institute operators. Sources said that as these cyber cafes or computer training institutes had student data, some unscrupulous elements made use of it (name and cellphone number) to make crank calls to candidates asking them shell out money for higher marks.

Lack of infrastructure apart, facilities are lacking at government high schools, not to forget teacher strength. Against 3,000 high schools in the state, around 37,000 teachers are working in these government schools. The average teacher:student ratio in these schools is 1:56.