The students of government schools of the state have been away from the cyber world for quite some time now.

The internet facility was provided to the students of Class VI onwards under an information technology project. However, due to non-payment of bills by the government, the facility was disconnected over four months ago.

The facility was provided by BSNL to around 13,000 middle, high and senior secondary schools. In Jalandhar district alone, the facility has been taken away from 100 schools.

In Doaba and surrounding districts, nearly 1,200 schools have been affected, said a senior officer in the DPI (Secondary) office. Computer education is compulsory in the state schools. A senior teacher in the Government Senior Secondary School, Ladowali Road, said the Internet connection has been disconnected due to non-payment of bills. “There is no power supply most of the time and now there is no net connection,” said another teacher of a government school in Talhan. “The students had developed interest in the subject, but we do no have proper facilities to sustain it," said a teacher in a government school in Jamsher.

Sources in the BSNL said a meeting of the schools’ representatives was called on Tuesday and they were told to deposit the money for re-connection. Deputy District Education Officer Baldev Saini said the payments would be released soon.