The higher education department has asked the heads of all government and government-aided colleges to procure high-speed Internet on campus and use it to live stream lectures in classrooms, preferably by the end of next month.

An order issued by higher education secretary Madhumita Ray on September 12 advises the institutions to "arrange for high-speed data link/Wi-Fi/Internet connectivity so that interested students have access to the educational tools in the cyber world".

In a June 24 order the government had urged the institutions to start procuring tools for hi-teach learning.

"By issuing the notice we have set a deadline for the institutions. We have consulted a high-level committee looking after postgraduate and undergraduate syllabus revision on e-learning practices followed in the country's top institutions. The committee has recommended the installation of these facilities," an official of the higher education department said.

He said action-taken reports would be sought from the colleges.

The choice of technology and the Internet service provider has been left to the institutions.

The institutions have also been advised to survey the market for suitable vendors or telecom service providers and arrange for the installation of equipment such as projectors, microphones and video-conference tools.

"The idea is to develop e-classrooms on the campus from which students can listen to a lecture being delivered, for instance, at a distant IIT campus. The colleges concerned have to coordinate with other institutes so that lectures could be synchronised," an official said.

The department, he said, believes that the institutes would be able to afford the one-time installation costs and the recurring data usage charges. "If required we will provide funds," the official said.

A source in the department explained what prompted the latest drive to switch to e-classroom. "That the state of college education in Bengal is not up to the mark became amply clear when higher education secretary Vivek Kumar issued an order on June 24 announcing the constitution of the syllabus-revision committee for undergraduate and postgraduate studies," the source said.

The order said one of the objectives of the syllabus revision was to improve the employability of the students.

"The order also spoke about the need for improving the performance of the state's students in national competitive exams, including the National Eligibility Test, conducted by the UGC. So by trying out the new model, which includes promoting the e-classroom concept, they are trying to improve the standard of the college and university education," the source added.

The order says suitable e-learning zones should be set up on the campuses.

The facility, the order says, "can be used for electronic sharing of educational resources amongst the higher education institutions".