Computers in candlelight school

A class in candlelight at ND Rashtriya Vidyalaya after windows had to be shut to keep the rain away. Pictures by Gour Sharma Sitarampur (Asansol), July 20: Such is the government’s eagerness to make Bengal computer literate that it wants a school, running without electricity for 44 years, to log in. Around 260km from Calcutta, ND Rashtriya Vidyalaya has no clue what to do with the 10 computers and the printer, scanner, web camera and projector gathering dust in one of its rooms for more than three months. The state, a national laggard in rural electrification, has granted the school Rs 1.55 lakh to buy furniture and dress up a room for its computer classes. Mahesh Kumar, the teacher in charge of the co-education school, said: “We face great difficulty in running classes during monsoon and summer without power.” What he did... [read full story]