No more homework on phones, AI learning centres in schools: Dada Bhuse in Raigad

Alibag: School education minister Dada Bhuse toured Raigad district on Friday, October 9, visiting Zilla Parishad schools at Mushet, Kihim Adivasi Wadi, Zirad, Awas and Navgaon in Alibag taluka. He sat in classrooms, had students read aloud and gave them books, and praised the schools' academic and cultural progress.

He then launched the 'Chala Shalet Jauya' (Let's go to school) campaign at the district planning committee hall in Alibag. Because heavy phone use was cutting into children's physical activity, he said, the government has decided to stop homework being given on mobile phones altogether. Education, he said, should make students employable and instil patriotism.

Government schools will get priority for clean drinking water, toilets, CCTV cameras and compound walls, and money for minor repairs and painting will go straight into a joint account of the headmaster and the school management committee. Unused classrooms will be turned into modern libraries and artificial intelligence (AI) learning centres with CSR funds. Health cards for students, sanitary napkin vending machines and HPV vaccination for girls, and guidance on child safety and cyber safety under 'Mission Abhay' are also planned.

Bhuse told education officers and teachers to step out of their offices to stop the fall in enrolment at Zilla Parishad and Marathi-medium schools, and to focus on quality. Guardian minister Bharat Gogawale, MLA Mahendra Dalvi and collector Kishan Jawale attended the event, at which meritorious students and teachers were felicitated.

Sources: Hindusthan Samachar; Hindusthan Samachar; Loksatta