No maintenance, internet issues force shutdown of hi-tech labs in many T.N. schools

Hi-tech labs in Tamil Nadu schools remain non-functional due to maintenance issues and poor internet access, affecting students' learning.

Hi-tech labs in many government high and higher secondary schools across Tamil Nadu are either partially functional or entirely non-functional due to an absence of maintenance and poor internet access. As a result, students in these schools have been unable to use the labs for computer classes, educational videos, online examinations, or career guidance sessions for the past year.

“The UPS is down, and there is no projector. Online tests cannot be conducted as the computers do not run without electricity. We have contacted the maintenance service, but since their contract ended in April 2025, the computers in the hi-tech labs have stopped functioning,” said a computer science teacher from Tiruvallur district.

Officials in the School Education Department noted that these labs were set up in 2019 as part of the first phase of the project, under which 6,029 schools received hi-tech labs. At the time, the annual maintenance contract was awarded to Larsen & Toubro for five years, which ended in April 2025. Teachers said that whenever issues arose during this period, the necessary services were carried out without hindrance.

The contract tender has not yet been closed, even though the contract period has ended, sources in the department said, adding that this has prevented the issuance of a new tender.

As schools prepare for the upcoming examinations, teachers are worried about how students will take part in practical examinations or competitive exams conducted online. Every government high school has a hi-tech lab with 10 computers, while every government higher secondary school has ones with 20 computers.

“While the computers are working, the UPS has not been serviced, which means that the moment the electricity goes out, the computers shut down,” said a teacher from Virudhunagar district.