Nearly 450 colleges affiliated with Gujarat University (GU) will get internet connectivity. The proposal was made by GU vice-chancellor Parimal Trivedi at a high level meeting with the Ministry of Human Resources and Development (MHRD) on Monday.

GU officials said that the proposal has been accepted and internet connectivity will now to be provided to all the 450 colleges affiliated with the university. While the city colleges have internet connections, there are many GU-affiliated colleges in rural areas which will benefit from this decision.
The internet connectivity will be provided to colleges jointly by BSNL and MHRD wherein colleges will be required to pay a fee of Rs 1,125 annually for a connection of 512 kbps. The colleges will be given 20 internet connections each.
"The extra cost of providing internet connection will be borne by BSNL and MHRD," said a GU official. The students will also able to use wi-fi connectivity in the college campus.
It has been decided to provide internet connectivity to 13,000 colleges in the country. This move comes with the aim of providing students with the facility of using internet connectivity for better education.
GU is also working towards establishing the largest computer laboratory in the state with a capacity of 1,000 computers. The computerization is being done to enable the university to conduct online exams as well as rent out the laboratory to other agencies who want to conduct competitive exams in the future.
GU has already developed a 500-computer laboratory at the NRS hall. It recently received a grant of over Rs 2 crore from the state education department to make the varsity fully equipped to conduct online examinations in the future.
"Online examination is going to be the future of education and we want to be equipped for the same. Also, since Ahmedabad does not have a centre with 1,000-computers yet, we want to develop the laboratory into a revenue-generating model where agencies taking online exams like CAT, GujCET and other competitive exams can hire our facility by paying a fee," said GU vice-chancellor Parimal Trivedi.
"There are about 15,000 students studying on GU campus. If we decide to conduct examinations online, students will be able to take all the exams in 15 days. Computerization of GU will help to cut down on examination expenses. We will also be able to declare results earlier than usual," Trivedi said.