J&K Govt Sets Up Panel To Vet Classroom Digital Board Project

Srinagar — The Jammu and Kashmir government has constituted a committee to evaluate and oversee the implementation of digital interactive boards in government school classrooms across the union territory, officials said on Friday.

The committee, comprising education department officials, technology experts and representatives from the Finance Department, will assess the technical specifications, vendor selection process and deployment timeline for the project.

"The aim is to ensure that the digital boards deployed in schools are of high quality, pedagogically effective and provide value for money," a government spokesperson said.

The project, which aims to equip over 10,000 classrooms with interactive digital boards, has been in the planning stages for several months. The boards are expected to replace traditional blackboards and enable multimedia-based teaching, access to digital textbooks and interactive learning modules.

Education experts have welcomed the initiative but stressed the need for adequate teacher training. "Technology in the classroom is only as good as the teacher using it. Without proper training and support, digital boards risk becoming expensive display screens," said an education policy researcher.

The committee has been asked to submit its initial assessment within six weeks, following which the project is expected to move to the procurement and pilot deployment phase. Schools in both urban and rural areas will be covered under the project, with priority given to secondary and higher secondary institutions.

Concerns have also been raised about the availability of reliable electricity and internet connectivity in rural schools, which are prerequisites for the effective use of digital boards.