Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has announced a new scheme to facilitate online education for college students. He has announced free 2GB data per day for college students, to help them with online classes. This new scheme has come in the light of the reopening of college for the even semester term for students.
This scheme is to span between January and April 2021. The data cards are to be distributed by the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Ltd. (Elcot), a state government undertaking. This scheme has been projected to benefit close to 10 lakh students.
Even though colleges have reopened, the attendance remains voluntary. Online and hybrid classes are continuing in the state. The move would ensure that students have access to online content and classes as well.
The college reopened for undergraduate students of all disciplines in December 2020, with state-issued SOPs. “If some students opt not to attend classes and prefer to study online while staying at home, Institutions are to provide online study material and access to e-resources to such students for teaching-learning,” the Tamil Nadu government said in the SOP. It was also mentioned that only 50% strength of students were to be allowed on the campus at any given point in time.