Chandigarh: The Haryana government on Tuesday launched a Rs.185 million project to bring students of government-run schools at par with those of elite private schools.

Two million students from class 1 to 8 in the government schools would benefit from the new scheme that includes distribution of workbooks.

"Such workbooks are so far available only to students of elite private schools. This is a new concept and we want our government school students to be at par with them. We want to provide them the best material available in the country," said Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda after releasing the first set of the workbooks here.

The first set was prepared with the help of a non-government organisation and education experts.

The chief minister said the state was taking a series of steps to improve the standards of education since his government declared 2008 as Year of Education.

Hooda said the government would start computer education in 25 colleges and 200 senior secondary schools. As part of changing the education system in the state, the government has created around 15,000 additional seats in job-oriented courses like commerce, science and computers in universities and colleges, he said.

In a bid to provide educational facilities of international standards to the students through reputed educational institutions, the government would launch the Rajiv Gandhi education city at Kundli in Sonepat district near Delhi, Hooda added. IANS