Chief minister Mukul Sangma hands over a tablet to a student in Shillong on Wednesday. Picture by UB Photos

Shillong, Oct. 2: More than 8,000 of the nearly 11,000 Class XII students under Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills district were today provided free tablet PCs in one of the biggest ever gatherings at Polo Grounds.

As part of the Students’ Digital Learning Aid Scheme, the M-Tabs, which cost a little more than Rs 6,000 each, were handed over by chief minister Mukul Sangma and his cabinet colleagues to the students who had come from far and near.

There are over 24,000 Class XII students in the state.

The tabs, which do not have call facility, have been loaded with the latest generation Android 4.1, dual core processor of 1.5 GHz, and are Wi-Fi enabled.

They also contain pre-loaded Class XI and Class XII study materials, sample question papers for engineering and medical entrance examinations, and classroom teaching format video and audio books.

In case of any flaw, students can rush to service centres, available at all district headquarters.

Sangma announced that the government has given financial assistance for making classrooms, where the students are present, Wi-Fi enabled.

Teachers belonging to nearly 950 higher secondary schools will also be provided with similar tabs under the Digital Learning Aid for Teachers scheme.

Possibilities will further be explored to extend the scheme to students belonging to Classes IX, X and XI.

“I have seen in other states where similar schemes have been made available. I feel that they are more of political gimmicks. But ours is different and unique,” the chief minister told the gathering.

While stressing the importance of the digital revolution, he said: “With globalisation, we cannot live in isolation and we are not insulated from what is happening around the world.”

On the $100 million loan from the ADB, he said the funds, among others, would be used to improve the infrastructure in schools and teaching quality.