Students who don’t clear Class XII exams not eligible to get free laptops
Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com
Chennai:7.11.2019
At least 70,000 students are unlikely to get the TamilNadu government’s freelaptops this year, as the state has decided not to distribute laptops to those who have failed to clear Class XII board examinations. An order to this effect was issued by the state government on November 1.
The disqualification, however, has an exemption clause. If students who failed to clear Class XII have enrolled themselvesin a polytechnic course,they would be eligible to get the free laptops.
According to Tamil Nadu Directorate of Government Examinations (TNDGE), more than 1.2 lakh students had failed Class XII in the past two batches alone. But there is no data available on how many among them have enrolled in polytechnic colleges. “Close to 70,000 might be affected,” said a source from the education department.
The scheme to distribute cost-free laptops to students from government and aided schools, colleges and polytechnic institutes was launched in 2011by former chief minister M Karunanidhi.
Every year, morethan 8lakh students have been benefiting from the scheme as the government was sanctioning more than ₹1,000 crore for the scheme depending on the number ofstudents on roll that year. However, asthesubsidy wasburning a hole in the exchequer’s pocket, fund allocation has seen a gradual decline in the past three years. From ₹1,100 crore in 2015-16, allocation dropped to₹511crorethe next year.
The 2019-20 batch of Class XII and XI students are given top preference for free laptops, while those from 2018-19 and 2017-18 batches stand third and fourth in priority.
The order to disqualify Class XII fail students was issued following a suggestion from the state school education departmentthatthe very purpose of providing laptops was for students to use it to further their studies. The ineligible names will now be removed and a fresh indent will be submitted to Electronics Corporation of India (ELCOT), the state agency which procures these laptops.
Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com
Chennai:7.11.2019
At least 70,000 students are unlikely to get the TamilNadu government’s freelaptops this year, as the state has decided not to distribute laptops to those who have failed to clear Class XII board examinations. An order to this effect was issued by the state government on November 1.
The disqualification, however, has an exemption clause. If students who failed to clear Class XII have enrolled themselvesin a polytechnic course,they would be eligible to get the free laptops.
According to Tamil Nadu Directorate of Government Examinations (TNDGE), more than 1.2 lakh students had failed Class XII in the past two batches alone. But there is no data available on how many among them have enrolled in polytechnic colleges. “Close to 70,000 might be affected,” said a source from the education department.
The scheme to distribute cost-free laptops to students from government and aided schools, colleges and polytechnic institutes was launched in 2011by former chief minister M Karunanidhi.
Every year, morethan 8lakh students have been benefiting from the scheme as the government was sanctioning more than ₹1,000 crore for the scheme depending on the number ofstudents on roll that year. However, asthesubsidy wasburning a hole in the exchequer’s pocket, fund allocation has seen a gradual decline in the past three years. From ₹1,100 crore in 2015-16, allocation dropped to₹511crorethe next year.
The 2019-20 batch of Class XII and XI students are given top preference for free laptops, while those from 2018-19 and 2017-18 batches stand third and fourth in priority.
The order to disqualify Class XII fail students was issued following a suggestion from the state school education departmentthatthe very purpose of providing laptops was for students to use it to further their studies. The ineligible names will now be removed and a fresh indent will be submitted to Electronics Corporation of India (ELCOT), the state agency which procures these laptops.
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