CUNCOLIM/SANGUEM: While the schools in Quepem town and surrounding villages are still awaiting upgraded internet connection, government schools in Sanguem taluka have been provided with it but irregular power supply disrupts the connectivity.
The two aided schools and one higher secondary school along with three government schools in the Quepem taluka still use Goa Broadband Network (GBBN) that was installed more than a decade back.
At that time when Manohar Parrikar was the then Education Minister, every classroom in the school was provided with a connection to use projector and computer as aids for teaching.
However, in the present times, GBBN has become outdated and in most government schools only the wires are left hanging while the aided schools have obtained their own internet connection for the benefit of the students.
Interestingly at Pope John which is an aided school in Quepem, the government has installed Atal Tinkering Lab (ATL) which is not functioning properly because of lack of proper internet facility.
Similarly, the Government High School at Xeldem is the centre for State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) under which students from 16 schools from Quepem taluka are given special classes in ‘Robotics’, but unfortunately these classes are also adversely affected due to lack of proper Internet facility.
Ironically, the government has provided 10 new computers for the Information & Communication Technology (ICT) Labs to most schools in this constituency. However, they are useless as there is no proper internet facility.
In Sanguem taluka, the ICT Labs are operational at least in Sanguem town while in the villages frequent power failures disrupt the connection.
The power failure problem is faced by the schools at Netravali and Wadem as the internet connection if provided by BSNL and its tower serving these two villages does not have a reliable power back up.
As the students benefit from the internet connection and better teaching methods, the two panchayats have demanded that the power supply in rural areas be improved.
At Union High School in Sanguem town, there is no problem with the internet connection and the students are enjoying learning robotics and coding.
