Chief Minister Amarinder Singh virtually launched the second phase of the "Punjab Smart Connect Scheme", marked by the distribution of smartphones to another 80,000 Class-12 students of government schools.

• The event witnessed simultaneous distribution of phones in 845 schools by various ministers, MLAs and other dignitaries across the state.
• This will facilitate seamless e-learning in government schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Launching the second phase at the Government Senior Secondary School in Bhelolpur, the chief minister announced that the remaining 45,443 smartphones of the targeted 1,75,443 would be provided to students by the end of this month to fulfil the Congress government's commitment to further strengthen digital infrastructure in schools.

• In the first phase, 50,000 students had received smartphones.

• Under the scheme, the state government is spending Rs 87.84 crore for the digital empowerment of 88,059 boys and 87,284 girls, the statement said.

• The chief minister said 877 tablet computers were also provided in 22 senior secondary schools at a cost of Rs one crore. Earlier, 2,625 tablet computers were provided to 372 primary schools at a cost of Rs 2.99 crore.

• The beneficiaries have been selected after Aadhaar seeding, enabling the government to select only those who do not have a cell phone.

• The phones have smart features such as touchscreen, camera and applications to access social media and would come with one-time 12 GB data and 600 local minutes free talktime with one-year validity to the beneficiaries.

• For the implementation of the scheme, open transparent bidding process was conducted by the Punjab Information and Communication Technology Corporation. The government is spending around Rs 5,000 on every phone.

• He said he wants Punjab's youngsters to be abreast with the latest technological advancements for an effective promotion of digital education, which leverages technology in a big way in the present scenario.

• The chief minister congratulated the teachers for preparing the e-content, which is now being used while teaching students online, and stressed the need for keeping up with the fast-paced changes in education globally.

• Punjab is the first state in the country to universalise pre-primary school education in 2017 itself and the same is now fully operational in all primary schools.

Recent Initiatives of Punjab Govt in Education

• 8,393 posts of pre-primary school teachers have been created

• Online transfer policy for teachers based on merit and performance

• 7,842 schools were converted into smart schools with the latest infrastructure, coupled with computers, tablet computers etc. and 1,400 more government schools would also be converted into smart schools by the end of the next year.

• School Education department has converted 16,589 classrooms into smart classrooms across the state and the remaining would also be covered under the scheme in the next six months.

• The reforms implemented in the government schools to raise the standard of education have led to an "unprecedented increase in the number of enrolments by 14.9 per cent as an increasing number of students are shifting from private to government schools".

• CM also underlined the need to promote sports education, for which his government is planning to set up gymnasiums in all schools.