Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray announced the partnership with Google which will blend google’s learning programs that integrate the classroom approach with online learning, over a virtual launch event. Maharashtra became the first state in India to collaborate with Google India for state-wide distribution of G Suite for Education and Google Classroom.

Key People:

Sanjay Gupta, Country Head and Vice-President, Google India and school education minister Varsha Gaikwad were also present in the virtual launch event.

Aim of the partnership:

To progress Maharashtra in education with effective use of online resources, platforms and technology and to bridge the gap in education amid COVID-19 pandemic.

Features:

i.Under this partnership Google will deploy free online learning tools like G Suite for education, Google Classroom, Google Meet to enable remote learning for around 2.3 crore teachers and students of Maharashtra.

ii.Under the partnership the platform offers a teacher training and free resources around distance learning contracts for educators.

iii.The School Education Department will provide individual educators and students with personal G Suite ID to ensure the access of remote learning to all irrespective of locations.

Advantages of the tools:

i.The google solutions which are accessible to the teachers and students of Maharashtra for free are designed to be flexible, scalable and easy to use.

ii.The tools allow the teachers to teach in Synchronous and Asynchronous modes and to stay connected with the students.

iii.The information hub launched by google “Teach from Home” is also available in Marathi to support the educators to get access to the updated and relevant data on the technology to enable remote learning.

Key Points:

i.More than 1.5 Lakh teachers of Maharashtra have registered to use the digital medium.

ii.Varsha Gaikwad, Education Minister of Maharashtra stated that the partnership will support the education department to adopt the technology in more than 1.9 lakh schools for more than 22.3 million students.