Maharashtra on Thursday became the first State in the country to announce a partnership with Google to promote remote learning for students. The initiative will enable 2.3 crore students and teachers to access free of cost the technology giant’s digital tools such as G Suite for Education, Google Classroom and Google Meet.

Launching the Google for Education initiative, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said, “The State government’s stance has always been how and when to restart education rather than schools following the pause caused by the pandemic. Google’s tools will help students learn from their homes, empower teachers to provide excellent educational experiences, nurture individual needs, and enable them to learn better together.”

Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad said around 1.5 lakh teachers have so far registered to use the tools on offer. The government will provide educators and students with G Suite IDs to ensure every student experiences continuity in learning, while enhancing the teaching capabilities of educators. Each tool has been designed in a way that makes sure it is easy to use, flexible and scalable. The tools will help students learn from anywhere, at any time, and on a range of devices.

Google Classroom will help educators easily create, review, and organise assignments, as well as communicate directly with students. Google Forms is a simple question and response tool, which allows educators to fill out or import questions to quickly create quizzes and tests. The Assignments tool enables educators to quickly and securely create, analyse, and grade coursework, and also provides students more flexibility in learning.