Busiiness Line 19.04.2010
Maharashtra govt to map schools
| To remove human interference in site selection; help perspective plan. |
Rahul Wadke
Mumbai, April 18
Maharashtra Government has decided to map 98,000 schools in the State, using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) with a view to ensure optimum number of schools.
The State government would be inviting Expression of Interest soon from private parties for supplying GIS software, a government official said.
The software allows to capture, store, update, analyse and display all forms of geographic information.
It creates multidimensional electronic maps with multiple layers of information, which serves as a useful tool for decisions makers.
Professor (Ms) Fauzia Khan, Minister of State for School Education said that GIS would be used for mapping the existing schools and for selecting sites for new schools in the State.
In many instances local field officers, due to vested interest do not provide accurate information, therefore specific sites are chosen over others.
Use of GIS will remove human interference in site selection and help the government in preparing a perspective plan for school education, she said. Professor Khan said that population, linguistic preferences, physical infrastructure and connectivity would be some of the parameters which would be included while planning new schools with the help of GIS.
Currently the State spends about Rs 20,000 crore for paying salaries for teaching and non-teaching staff of 98,000 schools every year.
Therefore, it is paramount that the money is well spent and students receive quality education, with the help of better technology, a state government official said .
According to the government norms, primary school should be setup every 1 km radius and secondary school every 3 km radius.
Maharashtra currently has 70,000 primary schools, 20,000 secondary schools and 8,000 higher secondary schools.
School data at village, taluk, district and State level would be included in the GIS system which will help in the perspective planning of the ministry.
Mr Rajesh Mathur, Vice-Chairman of NIIT GIS Ltd told Business Line that if demographic profile, age of students and commuting distances between school and home are fed in the software, it will provide locations ideal for schools as well as locations to be avoided.
GIS is a data driven software that provides you analytical tools. Data is a prerequisite to get any kind of output from the software, he said.
Mr Mathur said that the market for GIS software and services is growing by 25 per cent annually and the trend is expected to continue for some time.
The government is one of the biggest customers procuring the software, for its various infrastructure projects.
