The government plans to establish e-libraries in community schools in various parts of the country in the current academic session.

Currently, private schools in most parts of the country are equipped with library, computers and the Internet, whereas community schools do not have these amenities.

Last year, the government had endorsed directives on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in school education to create an ICT- friendly environment in every school.

In its budget speech this year, the government has pledged to allocate

Rs 1 billion to the Ministry of Education to provide access to information technology and computers for students, besides connecting 7,143 public schools with the Internet. As per the government commitment, the education ministry is making preparations to provide computers and set up e-libraries in community schools so that students.

Mahashram Sharma, MoE spokesman, said today that the government was doing homework to provide five computers each to 5,000 schools across the country in the first phase.

He said, “The government will establish e-library in every community school to develop reading habit among students and teachers.” He said installation of computers and the Internet in all schools at once is not possible. The government will provide computers to select schools in the first phase and expand it to other schools in coming years, Sharma said. There are around 1,000 public libraries across the country.

He argued that library can help develop reading habit among the public and make more and more people literate.

source: the himalayan times,26 August 2013