The bus, with state-of-the art educational equipment to aid students in rural areas, has not be used for an entire year
Launched with much fanfare in 2014 and touted as being a top-notch knowledge resource for students in the interiors of the state, the Vidyavahini – Mumbai University’s Rs 20-lakh bus created for the purpose – has been grounded for a year over a technical glitch.
Dr M A Khan, Registrar of the Mumbai University said, “The Vidyavahini did visit surrounding areas after its launch. Students from those areas showed a positive response. However, it is not being used currently because of a technical glitch.”
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However, some officials said it was not just a technical glitch, but the fact that there was no proper plan in place that has grounded the bus.
“The vehicle did have a good run in the initial year. But, there has to be a proper plan to decide where the bus will go, how many days it will stop one place, intimating people from that area about the schedule of the bus and what study material and other things should be stored for each trip. After it returned to Mumbai, there has been no plan prepared for its next trip.”
The bus
The bus was launched by the then Vice Chancellor and the aim was to take top quality education material to students outside Mumbai, who come under the varsity’s jurisdiction.
The bus is air conditioned and has new-age facilities such as a virtual classroom, five computers, LCD projector, wi-fi connectivity, thousands of e-books and journals, books on career guidance, short-clips and movies on educational topics and videos of lectures, benches for student to convert the bus into a small classroom, GPS and other digital services.
Roaming villages
The plan was to have the vehicle roam in rural areas and help youngsters with English speaking, personality development and provide them with guidance from educational experts through video-clips; it would also help farmers know about latest developments in the agriculture sector.
The bus in its brief run covered rural and tribal areas in and around Mumbai such as Ratnagiri Raigad, Sindhudurg, Thane, Palghar and Wada.
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