Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education challenges order on buying IT equipment

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a bizarre move, the state government has diluted its own guidelines for purchase and deployment of IT equipment in schools, only to win criticisms from within and demand for a complete reversal of the order.

The state education department, in an order dated May 23, 2018, exempted members of parliament (MPs) from the ambit of state government guidelines for the purchase, deployment and upkeep of IT and allied equipment in government and aided schools in the state. It was to arrest the dumping of expensive, exotic or substandard IT, ICT and electronic equipment in schools that the general education department had published the guideline.

However, the repeated persuasions by politicians and middle men had prompted a monitoring committee headed by former chief secretary Paul Antony to exempt MPs from the purview of the guidelines so that they could freely offload MP LAD funds in schools. It was argued that the guidelines of the state government did not allow the MPs to help schools with 'modern facilities'. Subsequently, orders were issued, diluting the guidelines for the guidelines.

As per the guidelines issued by the Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE), schools should follow almost a uniform pattern in terms of purchase and use of IT, ICT equipment. Minimum specifications were announced and after-sales support has to be ensured. One of the important condition is that no schools should use propriety software as the government has already put in place free software-based platforms and content to be used in government and aided schools.

According to sources, several MPs have sought permission to deploy interactive whiteboards in as many as 30 schools. Each of the set cost Rs 3.9 lakh and the schools would have to generate over Rs 30,000 as maintenance fee a year. During the UDF regime, such highly-expensive interactive boards were distributed to engineering colleges, but most of them were rendered useless.

KITE has already urged the government to revoke the exemption order. As per the guidelines, the maximum investment for setting up a smart classroom in a school would be Rs 60,000.