Jump in school enrolment, increased sense of security in smart cities, IIM-B studies show India news

The report on the impact of smart classrooms showed that 71 out of 100 smart cities have developed a total of 9,433 classrooms at a cost of Rs 1,071.7 crore in 2,398 government schools. Of those cities, 19 provided data from 2015-2016 to 2023-2024, showing an overall increase in student enrollment of 22%.

The study by Professor Saudeep Deb and PhD scholar Kapil Gupta used questionnaires to collect data from school officials and students.

The study also included visits and in-depth analysis of schools in Ajmer, Rajasthan, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) area and Tumkur, Karnataka.

“A survey among junior and senior secondary students revealed that the former group was more comfortable and appreciative of SCR (Smart Classroom) features than senior secondary students, who may find it challenging to adapt to these methods due to more complex subjects. Students generally experience learning at all levels. Agreed that there has been improvement, but contrary to teachers’ views, students think that attendance is not linked to SCR facilities,” the report said.

The report highlighted the need for data to better assess the mission’s impact.

“This lack of data significantly hampers the ability to track progress over time and evaluate the effectiveness of the mission to improve educational access and gender equality. For example, of all the cities that responded to our survey, many have zero entries for student enrollment numbers and female student ratios, which indicates either a lack of data collection or reporting problems,” the report said.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Prof Deb expressed his support for smart classrooms, especially in smaller cities like Ajmer, where the students expressed their support.

“Before going to the school it was not clear to us that smart classrooms were helping students even in remote parts of the country,” he said.

With the Smart City mission ending in March 2025, he said it is important for governments and schools to fund the maintenance of the digital infrastructure that has been developed so far.

In another study released by IIM-B on Thursday, the impact of Integrated Command and Control Centers (ICCCs) and surveillance cameras installed as part of the mission was found to be 59,802 CCTV cameras installed in 93 out of 100 smart cities and 78 CCTV cameras installed. Cities installed 13.95 lakh streetlights.

The report focused on three cities, Nagpur, Chennai and Tumkur. In Nagpur, the report said the police made 6,017 requests to the ICCC for camera footage, which was installed in 2018.

“…They were able to provide footage for 2,196 cases (36%) which shows the massive coverage of these surveillance cameras. The same footage is also used as evidence during the trial to help convict the accused,” it said.

A report authored by Professors Dinesh Kumar, Shailaja Grover and Purvi Tiwari noted.

Residents of the three cities reported an increased sense of security.

“According to the impact assessment, the implementation of smart city initiatives focused on security and surveillance in Nagpur, Chennai and Tumkur has fostered a high sense of security among the city’s population. By integrating advanced technologies such as CCTV cameras and real-time monitoring systems, authorities can solve crimes faster and effectively enforce law and order.” have been able to implement the system.

These studies were among 50 impact studies conducted by 29 leading institutions, including IIMs and IITs.

Launched in 2015, the Smart City Mission was supposed to end between 2021 and 2023 (depending on the selection date of each of the 100 cities).

Since then, the deadline has been missed and the mission has been extended to June 2023, then June 2024 and now March 2025. As of now, 9% of all projects are yet to be completed.