Gurumurthy K, IT for Change, participated in the “CeTIT 2010”(Citizens Empowerment Through Information Technology), the second edition of Conference-Cum-Exhibition on “e-governance” on 27th and 28th July 2010 organized by FICCI, Department of Information and Technology, Government of Tamil Nadu, Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited (ELCOT) and Tamil Nadu eGovernance Agency (TNeGA) at Chennai and spoke on ‘Public Software for Public Institutions – rethinking e-Governance’.
KOCHI: Kerala is a role model for other States in implementing ICT-enabled (information and communication technology) education in schools using Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS), according to Rajen Vareda, moderator of U.N. Solution Exchange ICTD Community.
Kerala’s success in the field was due a host of factors such as the government’s resolve, teachers unions’ commitment, involvement of civil society and the general political consciousness. Other States could take lessons from Kerala’s experience, Mr. Vareda told a news conference called to announce an international conference on public sector software to be held here on May 27-29.
Meet
The conference on ‘Software for the public sector, with focus on public education,’ is organised by United National Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Solution Exchange ICTD Community, and Kerala Government’s IT@School.
Guidelines to be set
To be attended by senior policymakers, educationists and software specialists from half a dozen South Asian countries as well as from across India, it will formulate a set of guidelines for the public-sector software (software developed for public service, especially for government, using FOSS).
Baby to open meet
The conference, to be chaired by UNESCO’s South Asia director Armoogum Parasuramen, will be opened by Education Minister M.A. Baby on Friday.
Anvar Sadath, executive director, IT@School, said the FOSS-based ICT software used in schools to teach maths, physical science and chemistry would be shared with the South Asian countries.
May 14-15 2010: Jaipur- ‘What is Free Software and why is it relevant to you?’
May 18-19 2010: Delhi- ‘What is Free Software and why is it relevant to you?’
May 27-29, 2010: Kochi, Kerala- Software in Public Sector, with focus on Public Education’
The Teacher’s Communities of Learning Project aims to initiate computer aided learning in Government School Classrooms as well as introduce the idea of teachers networks among 35-40 teachers in one of the blocks in Bangalore.
The project began in March with an orientation workshop where we introduced teachers to the project idea. This was met with a mix of enthusiasm and confusion at the same time. Here we were trying to ask teachers what they want for their own professional development and they kept telling us what they want for the children in the classroom! (This is but one of the many challenges the project faces).
The month after this workshop was spent on school visits, where we saw the situation of computers in the schools, discussed general school issues, interacted with the teachers and the HMs of the schools. The picture on the left is not an anomaly. In a lot of schools, computers are kept along with utensils, other school items and even sewing machines! This coupled with the fact that teachers are not adequately trained to use the computers leads to non-use and sometimes mis-use as well. (We even found videos of porn in one computer).
Thus, the future success of this project lies in getting teachers excited about using computers and interacting with one another. The former seems easier to do as interest in computers has always been there. The networking bit however might prove to be a tough nut to crack. Suggestions, Comments welcome!
IT for Change (ITfC) is a NGO located in Bangalore, India, that works for an innovative and effective use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to promote socio-economic change in the global South.
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The Teacher’s Communities of Learning Project aims to initiate computer aided learning in Government School Classrooms as well as introduce the idea of teachers networks among 35-40 teachers in one of the blocks in Bangalore.