Subhash C. Khuntia,
Joint Secretary,
Department of School Education and Literacy,
Ministry of Human Resource Development
Government of India
The Indian education sector needs to rise to the occasion to cater to the requirements of the knowledge society of the twenty-first century. Making school curriculum relevant and appealing for the students, dealing with the problem of access in remote areas and for the socio-economically backward sections, bringing about gender equality and reducing drop-out rates are critical issues that are required to be addressed through innovative ideas and persistent efforts. The Eleventh Five Year Plan of the government reflects this commitment to provide quality education. While the newly enacted legislation on the Right to Education will universalize elementary education, there are ambitious plans to enhance the enrolment ratios in the secondary and higher education stages while ensuring improvement of quality. The role of technology is crucial to achieve this.
The government's efforts in leveraging technology is not restricted to equipping computers or providing connectivity in educational institutions or classrooms, but also include provision of required training to all teachers to enable effective integration of ICT in the teaching learning process, and ensuring availability of quality e-content. ICT-enabled learning is especially relevant for the children with special needs studying in an inclusive environment. Incorporating innovative technologies in the class room is expected to bring about positive changes in the education system and help in reaching the global competitive standards.
I congratulate digitalLEARNING for their effort in compiling the Education Resource Guide and hope that this will help the users in the education sector to find technology solutions for their curriculum needs from among a range of choices, and will fulfill the need of the community of practitioners in the teaching and learning community.
