With Internet and e-commerce becoming buzzwords in the modern world, interest in ICT use by the Government had revived in the late 1990's in India and other parts of the developing world. Governments of various countries have sought to implement policies and programmes that would assist in the application of ICTs for development. Most developing countries are using ICTs to modernise and increase internal efficiency as well as to improve service delivery.
As a part of tracking various Government initiatives of different countries in ICT, digital Learning Magazine presents to you the nominations for the Best Government Policy/Initiative of the Year award.
PROJECT: Implementation of shared computing technology benefiting 1.8 million students in 5,000 government schools in Andhra Pradesh in 4 months
www.ncomputing.com
The Andhra Pradesh Government had envisaged an ambitious plan to bring computer access into 5000 government schools to benefit more than 1.8 million underprivileged children. The purpose of the project was to enable under privileged school children with computer skills in order to bridge the digital divide. To equip each of these schools with a computer lab of 10 seats, the Government of Andhra Pradesh, after serious evaluation chose to implement the NComputing solution to utilize the PC capacity by sharing the resources/PC power of 2 complete PC's with 8 additional computing stations, without compromising on the their performance.
The uniqueness in the project has been its very fast implementation in a record time of 4 months. Government of Andhra Pradesh was receptive to the idea of shared computing technology after they conducted extensive evaluation and testing experiments. The decision to implement the NComputing solution resulted in not only a quick and problem free deployment but also saving a great deal of money.
To equip each of these schools with a computer lab of 10 seats, the Government of Andhra Pradesh, after serious evaluation chose to implement the NComputing solution to utilise the PC capacity by sharing the resources/PC power of 2 complete PC's with 8 additional computing stations, without compromising on the their performance.
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HIGHLIGHTS
5000 Government schools in Andhra Pradesh today are equipped with an up-to-date computer lab with the latest computer hardware, Microsoft and e-learning softwares, trained instructors, and reliable electricity support.
The overall cost of the project was over 300 crores plus for 5 years; with about 20% savings due to installation and deployment of the NComputing solution, allowing more schools to be equipped with PCs in the initial phase of the project.
Over 1.8 million students now have access to computer labs and regular computer classes.
The computing labs are being used to teach computer skills, office productivity (such as spreadsheets and word processing), as well as subjects like reading and math.
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PROJECT: SIET, Kerala
www.sietkerala.nic.in
The State Institute of Educational Technology (SIET) was constituted by the Government of India in all the States with an intention to promote the level of learning and also to disseminate knowledge to the students through the use of Radio and Television. SIET, Kerala is the latest in the array of 7 SIETs in the country. SIET, Kerala was constituted under the Travancore Literary Scientific and Charitable Societies Act 1951 in 1999 as an autonomous society. The Institute has adopted itself to play a catalytic role in fostering as well as supporting and supplementing the educational movement in the state particularly in the arena of secondary education.
Some of the successful initiatives under the programme have included: 1) Setting up of the CD Library project in 1000 Higher Secondary schools containing 150 CDs; 2500 High Schools containing 120 CDs; 3200 primary schools containing 50 CDs in the State of Kerala. This is the first time in the history of India a SIET implemented this type of a project for the promotion of E-Learning. 2) Implementation of a full fledged e-learning project in 29 Legislative constituencies in (6800 schools) in the state of Kerala.
In 2006 the M.M. Panth Commission constituted by the MHRD, Government. of India, after evaluating the performance of all the SIETs in India selected Kerala SIET as an excellent model and directed all the SIETs in India to follow the “Kerala Model” in the field of E-Learning system.
Some of the successful initiatives under the SIET programme have included: Setting up of the CD Library project in 1000 Higher Secondary schools and Implementation of a full fledged e-learning project in 29 Legislative constituencies in (6800 schools) in the state of Kerala.
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HIGHLIGHTS
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PROJECT: Programme for distribution of valuable bon certificates
