“It is Important to Ensure that 100 Out of 100 Students Should Achieve a Minimum Basic Education till class 8th”

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December 19, 2011

Manoj Aggarwal, State Project Director, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan

Everybody wants good schooling, but some are forced by circumstances to give education a miss. Our focus is to enable everyone to become educated irrespective of their circumstances, says Manoj Aggarwal – a Gujarat cadre IAS officer, serving as a State Project Director, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan – in an interview with Anand Agarwal of digitalLEARNING.

What are the measures undertaken by the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan to improve education in Gujarat?

Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) is a flagship programme of the Government of India in partnership with Government of Gujarat. Its mandate is to universalise elementary education. SSA aims to improve the quality of education and place a tab on dropout rates. To fulfil these goals, the SSA has taken steps, such as budget allocation, which is approved by project approval board in the Government of India. The budget provides for things like: teachers salary, teachers grant, civil work, alternate schooling, schooling for out of school children to bring them into educational mainstream, keeping a tab on students, child mapping, school maintenance grant, providing books, uniform and development grant, etc. The project is fully geared to do everything possible for improving the educational and literacy level in the state.

The 8th standard has not been completely included in primary education, what is the target date by which it will be covered in the state?

Already 10,000 schools were started last year and it will be completed by next year.

Tell us about the major projects under SSA that are having a big impact?

SSA seeks to universalise elementary education and to provide educational opportunities to all sections of society, including the socially and economically backward classes and girls falling in the latter sub-section. SSA is taking various steps to mainstream all the children, we have already started Shala Praveshotsav campaign, aiming at 100 percent enrolment for all villages and urban areas, in which the Honourable Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi is also taking very keen interest. Every year more than 3000 officers, ministers and Chairmen of boards and corporations go to villages and participate in this universal enrolment scheme. They ensure that every girl child is enrolled under the Gujarat Kanya Kelavani karyakaram. This is going on for last eight years and because of that we have achieved enrolment rate of almost 100 percent.

Many critics allege that schemes like SSA are only focussed on quantity; they don’t improve quality. There is a programme called Gunotsav, which aims to improve the quality of education in the state. How the SSA is integrated with the Gunotsav?

The Honourable Chief Minister started Gunotsav in 2009. It has two parts. Part one is self-assessment by schools, which has been done in October this year. In the second part, almost 3000 members, including the Chief Minister, all ministers, Chairmen of corporations, all IAS, IFS, IPS and other senior officers, participate in assessing almost 900 schools. The assessment will be made through focus on aspects of teachers’ work, civil work, involvement of village education committees, environment of schools, computer education, daily attendance, educational tools, their interaction with other schools, status of child as far as studiers are concerned. Even, this year we are going to do a third-party survey to measure the impact Gunotsav has made. So it is holistic in nature and in the long run, it would really help improve the quality.

What are the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools that you are adopting to improve the quality of education?

Modern ICT methods are used as much as possible. We have Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and Geo-Informatics (BISAG) to provide training to teachers. In the schools, we are providing computer-based programmes for computer-aided learning. Already we have 5000 thousand schools where computers have been installed. Another 15000 schools will get the computers this year. We also have sufficient staff to take care of hardware, software and training.

What are your views on PPP in the education sector?

We are using NGOs in many ways; NGOs are involved in the training the school management committees. This is under the provisions of Right to Education. They are helping us improve the quality of the education in a big way.

We have introduced a toll-free help-line last month that works across the state. If someone finds a child who is not attending school, they can call this number

What are the major challenges that you face and what steps are you adopting to tackle these?

In our large country, there is multiplicity of everything and this leads to problems. Everybody wants good schooling, but some are forced by circumstances to give education a miss. Our focus is to enable everyone to become educated irrespective of circumstances. Moving from one place to another and having socio-eco disparities affect education. It is important to ensure that 100 percent of the students should achieve a minimum basic education till class 8th.

We try to tackle the dropouts from every angle. For instance, to tackle the problem seasonal migration, or migration due for employment purposes, we urge parents to leave their children behind with a caretaker. We provide the basic help through inputs like meals, etc.

We have introduced a toll-free help-line last month that works across the state. If someone finds a child who is not attending school, they can call this number. We try to cover everything, including textbooks and uniforms. We are also thinking of providing transportation facility to those students who stay far away. Besides putting all efforts to retain students, we are also training teachers, updating the curriculum on the lines of national curriculum and NCERT. So, a holistic approach is being adopted to tackle all the challenges.

As you are talking about encouraging results, so what next have you planned for next 2-3 years?

Our task is to make quality education free. We want to create an infrastructure that is so efficient that parents will think ten times before sending their child to private school. According to the Right to Education Act, by 2013 a number of digital facilities will have to be provided. We are moving in that direction to provide the entire physical infrastructure including number of schools, computers, playgrounds and whatever is required for good quality education that would be achievable by 2013. Once the infrastructure is completed to a high degree, our focus will shift towards providing the quality, which will be leveraged through teacher training.

Providing Expansion,Inclusion and Excellence

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December 19, 2011

Jayanti Ravi, Commissioner of Higher Education, Government of Gujarat, talks to Anand Agarwal about issues related to higher education in Gujarat. She expresses her views on how access, excellence and equity can be ushered into the State’s educational ecosystem

Gujarat has committed itself to transforming the quality of life of its citizens through various new initiatives. Many of these initiatives pertain to education, particularly tertiary education.

To make all this possible, we have established the Knowledge Consortium of Gujarat (KCG), which along with the Office of the Commissioner, strives to facilitate these initiatives that involve all stakeholders in education.

Education and Extension

Changes in the basic curriculum and academic system have been ongoing through a shift from the conventional system to the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS). This offers immense flexibility in choice of courses, choice in the teaching-learning methodologies, choice in evaluation and even transfer of credit for students who drop out. The on demand, online examination option is being rolled out.

In addition, we have distance education through universities such as the Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Open University for further enhancing the Gross Enrolment Ratio.

To enhance access, we have Sandhan, an integrated all Gujarat classroom providing a platform for communication across colleges through audio-video tools telecast through the V-SAT. Every college has a room dedicated for receiving lectures by eminent speakers not just from the State but also those with National and International repute. More than 1000 hours of programme have been telecast every year since 2009 covering Science, Arts, Commerce, Employability and all higher education initiatives.

Saptadhara is a unique initiative for students to unleash their creativity under seven bands – knowledge band, creative expression band, fine arts band, theatre band, music and dance, yoga and sports, community/social service band.

Saptadhara provides a platform to hone the multiple intelligence of students. This also develops the physical, ethical, mental, aesthetic, reflective and spiritual dimensions of students’ personality. Students participate in large numbers at college level, district level, zonal level eventually culminating into a competition at State level. In all, 2350 students have participated at the State level in the competition during 2009-2011.

KMP helps enhance ICT and Communication skills of teachers and students to promote basic research skills

We also have a placement initiative called Udisha that helps students become more confident and empowered in making career choices. 436 colleges have been given basic financial support to set up Udisha Clubs through which student registration, pre-placement training, job fairs and counselling are offered.

To strengthen the entire system, a recruitment drive is on in the Office of Commissioner, through an Online Job Application System. Likewise, Office automation is in progress and all these efforts address access of stake holders to service delivery substantially.

Capability Building

Karmayogi Talim, a three day Programme for principals, initiated in 2008, has conducted ongoing and approximately 12,500 man-days of training in various competencies. The objective of these programmes is to ensure capability building of teachers, administrators and librarians, empowering them to be facilitators and motivators for students in a learner centric education system.

Training is also being imparted in ICT so that teachers and students are equipped to use the emerging technologies of the 21st century.

Yet another programme called KMP-Knowledge Management Programme, focusing on training for faculties in language skills, ICT skills, and professional development through more research. Launched in 2008, KMP helps enhance ICT and Communication skills of teachers and students to promote basic research skills.

Research

Further, a drive to strengthen research, through workshops and training specially to give impetus to research projects and doctoral research in various subjects with support from nationally acclaimed academicians. The University Text Book Board has published research journals and more than 120 text books with community involvement.

A Compendium of Doctoral Dissertations and Patents in Universities of Gujarat has been compiled and published for reference to enable further research.

Other Initiatives – SCOPE, GEIC, IITE, Children University

One of our important initiatives, the Society for Creation of Opportunity through Proficiency in English (SCOPE), has been set up by the Government of Gujarat in public-private partnership mode, along with University of Cambridge. SCOPE is committed to empowering and fortifying the youth of Gujarat with proficiency in English. Over 2 lakh youth have already been certified through SCOPE so far through more than 400 Training Centres from across the State.

We have set up the Gujarat Education Innovation Commission (GEIC), which identifies several innovations in schools and colleges under various heads. So as to recognize and felicitate excellence, these innovations are identified, documented and disseminated.

There is the Indian Institute of Teacher Education (IITE), which aims at integrated development of students into excellent teachers through its unique curriculum and androgogical and pedagogical methods.

Children University, focuses on education, extension, research and teaching on all aspects of Children ranging from nutrition to health, toys, games and education with the motto ‘every child matters’ in a ‘life cycle’ approach.

MMI – A powerful mechanism

Access, excellence and equity are ensured through the Mission Mode Implementation (MMI) mechanism in Education. We have approximately 927 colleges in 33 Higher Education District as against the 26 Administrative Districts.

5 Clusters of 5 colleges each, form one Higher Education District (HED) i.e., 25 colleges form every district. Every HED has two District Coordinators and every Cluster has one Cluster-Coordinator. The district also has one Prabhari Professor from the University, to which it is affiliated and additionally, six student ambassadors per District. MMI has now become an active network through which we disseminate and collect information or implement initiatives effectively.

Academic and Administrative Audit (AAA) of all Institutions of Higher Education has also been implemented in order to mentor Institutions and provide support wherever necessary.

We have recently begun an awareness campaign called ‘Chalo College E Abhiyaan’ during which members from TEAM Higher Education, fanned out into various Higher Education Institutions. The aim is to mentor students, faculty members and principals in the ongoing Initiatives of the State Government and to simultaneously take stock of their progress being made across the State.

Various new Institutions like Central University, IIT Gandhinagar as well as the large number of private universities, are also, contributing significantly to ensure that the educational ecosystem in Gujarat is functioning well. All these reforms have been possible with the high level of political commitment of the State leadership. The partnership of all the Vice- Chancellors and the entire higher education team has also played a keyrole.

The basic philosophy behind all these efforts in the Education space is to mobilise community involvement in a sustainable manner. Gujarat is working towards quality enhancement by providing equity, access and excellence in Education thus preparing to face a progressive global and challenging scenario with bold and confident strides.

Educating Gujarat

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December 19, 2011

: R P Gupta, Secretary(Primary Education), Gujarat

R P Gupta, Secretary (Primary Education), Gujarat, talks to Anand Agarwal on educational initiatives being undertaken in Gujarat.

Kindly apprise us about the implementation status of Sarva Sikhsa Abhiyaan (SSA) in Gujarat?
We are one of the leading states as far as the implementation of SSA is concerned, even though we are having access to far less funds than many other states. Making it possible for all the children to have primary education is our main responsibility. Currently we have a success level of about 98.8 percent. We are also trying to ensure that children should be enrolled in school. At times, socioeconomic factors like religious belief, family requirement and migration come in the way of students getting education. But under SSA we are trying to ensure that we do not miss a single child.

Recently, we have enacted the Right to Education. Kindly brief us about what are the obligations of the state under this act. How far has Gujarat been able to meet these obligations?

Under Right to Education the state is obliged to provide education to all. We must understand that this act has been enacted keeping entire country in mind, it has not been enacted for the states that are already doing well in primary education sector. Gujarat is one of the states where we have achieved the goals of Right to Education (RTE) even before the enactment of the act. We already have adequate number of primary schools. The act also mandates that all the schools should have sufficient number of teachers and other staff. That has also been achieved. Infrastructure facilities like separate toilet for boys and girls, and other infrastructure in all the schools is in place. All schools have drinking water facility, and are electrified. Perhaps we are short of classrooms and separate sanitation blocks for boys and girls. This issue will be attended to within one or two years.

State has not been lagging in providing mid-day meals to children. We provide mid-day meals to about 41 lakh children per day across all our schools, and also in many learning centres

We have been hearing about the GUNOTSAV scheme quite a lot. Could you please give us some idea about how this scheme works? What are its main objectives?

This scheme is mainly designed to improve the quality of primary education. Till 2009, we were mainly focussed on bringing all the children to the school. We have almost achieved that objective. Only some marginal groups are left. GUNOTSAV focuses primarily on improving the quality of education. The quality of education can be improved only if we can provide all the inputs like classrooms, teachers, infrastructure facilities, and all kind of teaching and learning aids. There must also be timely reviews of the training that the teachers are offering. Under GUNOTSAV the government tests all the children and on basis of the results, we provide grades to each teacher and school. Based on that grade, the teacher knows where he/she stands and what the outcome of his /her efforts is. This is how we address the aspect of quality. Measuring the performance of about 70 lakh children studying in 34 thousand schools is a mammoth task.

Has this resulted in some demonstrable improvement in quality of education?

So far no study has been carried out because we started this scheme only in 2009 -2010 and this will only be the third year. As far as the improvement in the education is concerned we first carried out this program in November 2009, after that there were only 4 to 5 months available to the teachers for improving their performance for the next academic year. However, the results that we got during the last year’s Gunotsav were very encouraging. There was about 15 percent improvement as far as the performance of Gunotsav’10 to Gunotsav’09 was concerned. More than anything else, the scheme has led to greater awareness on the issue of quality of education.

There have been some reports from planning commission that state has been lagging in providing mid-day meals to the students. What steps have been taken to address these issues?

State has not been lagging in providing the mid-day meals to the children. We provide mid-day meals to about 41 lakh children per day in all our schools and out of schools learning centres. Roughly 60 percent of the total children are taking advantage of mid-day meal scheme. There are issues concerning the quality of food, but we have taken steps for training our cooks for preparing quality and tasty food. As far as the nutritional part is concerned, we have taken steps like fortification of flour; we are adding soybeans to improve nutritional value of the food. Gujarat unfortunately has been lagging due to its dietary habits. Many people in the state do not take green vegetables in their food. This aspect is worrying for us and we are trying to devise ways and means for addressing this deficiency which arises due to lack of vegetables in diet. It is possible that the kitchen gardens in each school can be used as a resource for mid-day meals. We are also engaging voluntary agencies or non-governmental agencies for providing mid day meal to the children. For example, Akshaypatra is covering quite a few Talukas. They prepare the food centrally and add adequate quantity of vegetables to it.

What has been a better model- doing it yourself or engaging NGOs like Akshaypatra?
We carried out a study by engaging an agency that was tasked to compare the two models. Definitely the NGO model of centralised kitchen and food being sent to the different schools everyday has drawn lot of positive feedback from schools, parents and the students. Quality wise and taste wise food prepared by NGOs is more nutritious and tasty.

Will this model be replicated across the state?
Getting food from NGOs has its own limitations. We don’t have adequate number of NGOs with adequate capabilities. So procuring mid-day meals from NGOs is much better for urban areas. NGOs might not be able to deliver in inaccessible areas. We are trying to engage NGOs to the extent possible.

Gain at Grassroots

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December 19, 2011

An invigorating breeze of education is sweeping across Gujarat. Ordinary people have started enjoying easier access to latest ideas, which act like a catalyst for resolution of socio-economic issues and creation of a more cohesive society

According to the census, the literacy rate in Gujarat for the year 2011 is 79.31 percent. This is an improvement in comparison to the year 2001, when the rate was 69.14 percent. This 10.17 percent rise signifies the amount of work that has been put in for making education available to every inhabitant of Gujarat. The state ranks 9th on the Education Development Index (EDI). EDI is prepared after taking into account four components — access, infrastructure, teachers and outcomes. In case of access, two important factors were looked into — availability of schools per 1,000 child population and ratio of primary to upper primary schools.

‘Smart Goals,’ which envisage ‘Education for All’ is a major project of the Gujarat education department. The education policies are geared to promote literacy and reduce dropout rates. The focus is on girl education and training of teachers. The Government is focussing on primary education, secondary education, higher education, continuous education, literacy education, technical education and pharmacy education.

As per Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board (GIDB), Gujarat had an estimated 8.2 million children enrolled in the primary classes, with the Gross Enrolment Ration (GER) touching almost 100 percent. There were about 2.77 million children enrolled in institutions imparting secondary and higher secondary education. The schools that have been established by the Government of Gujarat are administered by the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education board, which is also known as GSHSEB.
Every year the state government evaluates its primary schools, and council of ministers; top bureaucrats and eminent persons visit schools across the state for three days for the purpose of ranking them. The state government has launched the ‘Gunotsav’ programme to raise the quality of education in government run primary schools. In evaluating the effectiveness of the programme, the NGO Pratham will evaluate the students.

Massive Movement
As per Planning Commission of India, women’s education in Gujarat in 2001 stood at 20th position, with literacy rate among females at 48.1 percent. In 2009, the state adopted “Kelavani Rath,” which has now turned into a massive movement. Government charts out plans to enroll 525,000 girls in the state in Kanya Kelavani drive. It covers 1,865 routes and as a result, there is 100 percent enrollment and reduction in the dropout rate from 40 percent to 2.29 percent. Similarly, Girl Child Education program covers almost 18,000 villages, where the literacy rate is below 20 percent. The focus is on identified suburbs of the urban areas to spread the message of education.

The Government has plans to make Jyoti-Gram and broadband connectivity available in all villages. Also, education would be one of the major sectors in the Gram Mitra Yojna comprising of five Gram Mitra departments: agriculture, health, education, and human development. Government schemes like Bal Pravesh and Nirogi Bal are also a part of the Kanya Kelavani campaign. Under the Nirogi Bal and Bal Pravesh schemes, the government ensures that the child is healthy while attending schools.

Insurance and Health
Financial aid schemes like Vidhyalaxmi Bond Yojna and insurance schemes like Vidhyadeep Yojna are implemented by the government with the objective of providing education related aid to families. Health of school children is also a focus. With co-operation of WHO and World Bank “Health Developing School-Programme” is being implemented in Gujarat. The Government adopts technology by promoting computer aided learning, which is expected to benefit around 8,50,000 students of government run schools in Gujarat. It also aims to foster education in rural places and set path of development with continuous power supply and broadband connectivity. In this way, computer training is being enhanced for primary level education in Gujarat.

Gujarat is focussed on ensuring maximum enrollment of boys and girls in primary schools. To encourage girl child education, Vidhyalaxmi Bonds are operational in all areas low literacy rates. This serves as an incentive to poor parents to send their daughters to schools. Under Vidhya Deep Yojna, the insurance premium is paid by the government to ensure financial assistance to parents in case of untoward incident.

Higher Education
Gujarat houses some of the best higher educational institutions in the country, namely the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, Nirma Institute of Technology and Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information & Communication Technology, which are also known worldwide for their quality education and research. Gujarat is now planning to add another 500 seats in medical education next year. It recently received approval for around 500 medical seats from the Medical Council of India, MCI. MCI has approved 150 seats each at medical colleges in Sola and Bhuj as well as at the Gujarat Cancer Research Society run medical college in Ahmadabad. In addition, 50 seats have been increased at the Bhavnagar Medical College. The state is expecting approval for the new medical college at Gotri in Vadodara and at Valsad. The government is working on creating a state-level body on the lines of the MCI that will be empowered to approve post graduate medical courses.

Gujarat has recently passed the Private Universities Bill, which allow formation of private universities without having to pass legislation through the Assembly

Gujarat has recently passed the Private Universities Bill, which allow formation of private universities without having to pass legislation through the Assembly

Gujarat has recently passed the Private Universities Bill, which allow formation of private universities without having to pass legislation through the Assembly for the same. An institution wanting to acquire the university status can apply to the department of education for the same.

However, there are some challenges in higher education. Gujarat has 20 districts where enrollment is 12.7 percent, which is below the national average. Besides this, there is an acute shortage of teaching staff in the higher education institutions of Gujarat, according to the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). The report also says that 60 percent institutions have not obtained NAAC/NBA accreditation. These issues should be addressed as quickly as possible.

Schemes Adopted to Enhance Education
Primary Education
• Vidhyalaxmi Bond Yojna
• Vidhyadeep Yojna
• The Girl Child Development Program
• School-Health Check-up Program
• Computer Training at the Primary Educational levelSecondary and Higher Secondary Department
• Diploma for the teachers to improve their teaching skills (Teacher’s Training Program)
• Common Entrance Test for admission
• Teleconference for the students of Std. 10th and 12th.

Technical Education
• Self employment programs for the women

“Gujarat has immense potential to become India’s major IT hub”

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December 19, 2011

Classteacher Learning Systems provides digital solutions to over 700 schools, 1 million students and 25,000 educators across India. Rohit Pande, CEO, Classteacher Learning Systems, shares his insights

Advent of IT is having a seminal impact on Gujarat’s education segment. The state’s literacy rate has increased by more than 10 percent in the last decade. The census data of 2011 released on March 31 shows that Gujarat’s literacy rate has clearly increased from 69.1 percent (according to 2001 census) to 79.31 percent (according to 2011 census). While the state is providing the much needed impetus to the K-12 segment, there exists considerable scope for improvement.

According to NASSCOM, with an improved infrastructure and education, Gujarat will be in a position to drive IT growth in the next decade. Som Mittal, president of the IT industry body, says that while currently only six cities, including Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Pune, form 90 per cent of total IT industry, newer cities like Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mysore and Chandigarh will drive growth in the next decade. Gujarat has immense potential to become the next IT hub.

With information technology it is easier to achieve the goal of building a society that is rich, aware and discerning. IT is an enabler of social inclusivity; it can bring information to the masses, educate them and enable them to enjoy a better quality of life.

Gujarat to leapfrog

ICT can enable data assessment, data analytics in schools, and this is something that will go a long way in creating the minds that will lead India into the future.

Digital interactive education has seen tremendous growth in the last two years in the market across both large and small towns.
We see greater than 100 percent growth in market for assessments, as well as web based learning.
E-learning is growing both as a support tool for existing educational institutions as well as for delivery of high quality solutions for the end user.
Digital education has crept into our classrooms and has become mainstream in big and small towns.
It helps in engaging students as students see and interact with the subject they are studying.

Gujarat is blessed with a dynamic economy. The state government is very serious about improving the education level and has started several programs to achieve full literacy, such as universalisation of elementary education, District Primary Education Program and compulsory primary education.

As per the figures of 2011 census, the female literacy rate in the last decade has increased by 12.93 percent in Gujarat. Moreover, the male literacy rate was 79.7 percent in 2001 census, this has increased to 87.23 percent in 2011 census. The male literacy rate shows a rise of 7.53 percent in the last decade. This is a notable milestone of progress.

Reaching the Last Mile

Of the nearly one million public schools in India less than 0.2 percent have access to IT infrastructure or computer-based education. Setting up a school is a cumbersome process. The costs for building materials, municipality permits, electricity, remuneration for teachers and maintenance is quite high.

Out of approximately 200 million children in the age group of 6-14 years, only 120 million ever go to school, hence it is important to use IT technology to take education to everyone’s doorstep. As a part of its Vision 2020 plan, the government is looking to increase the number of school going children by 30 percent.

On eINDIA 2011

eIndia 2011 Conference will be a unique platform for the various stakeholders who are driving ICT initiatives in the domain of Governance, Healthcare and Education.

“State will Need Millions of Skilled Workforce”

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December 19, 2011

Edutech offer solutions for skill development centres, libraries, corporate training centres and vocational laboratories. Sajeev Karuthody, Director- Special Projects, Edutech, gives his insight on the transformations in Gujarat’s educational space

By virtue of being the state with highest growth rate in the country, Gujarat is on the cusp of an employment revolution. The state will need millions of skilled work force to take care of its manufacturing, IT and services sectors, which are growing at a rapid pace.

A value based education system is the need of the hour, if the state government’s target for SEE (Socio-Economic-Education) is to be met. The current education system will need to be improved with design and delivery support mechanisms for achieving this objective. ICT (Information and Communication Technology) acts as a multiplier for capacity building efforts of educational institutions without compromising the quality.

The state government has identified that technology is a key enabler for bringing about improvements in education. Hence through various initiatives like ICT @ project- Gujarat is to provide Computer Literacy & Computer Aided Education in Secondary and Higher Secondary Schools. Collaborative participation of industry and the academic community can play a role. More than anything research needs to be done to discover the best ways of implementing ICT.

Gujarat to Leapfrog

Educational institutions are facing significant challenges in taking account of the needs and aspirations of all the stakeholders: between students, teachers, faculty, researchers, workers and funding agencies.

The educational environment is evolving rapidly, with shifts in demographics, commerce, technology and politics. ICT is a momentous opportunity for all the teachers and experts in the country to pool their collective wisdom for the benefit of every learner. This is the best way of reducing the digital divide.

The policy objective of ICT @ Schools projects of Gujarat aims at universal, equitable, open and free access to state of the art ICT and ICT enabled tools and resources. Identification and procurement of ICT platform and tools is relatively easier.

Following are three areas that will play a key role in the success of any future ICT related initiatives in Gujarat: Plan, People, and Product.

Plan – the ICT adoption needs to be developed after taking into consideration the realities at institutional and user levels.
People – Identify right stakeholders to own, adopt and integrate ICT at an institution level
Product- Use the right products that have already been tested. The focus should be on having easy to use and effective systems

ICT strategy should have the bandwidth to reach out to different strata of the society through channels like – multimedia, television, mobile, and even Facebook or other social networks.

Reaching the Last Mile

Education on Wheels is a unique programme where the ICT based schools arrive at the student’s doorstep. The innovative program is successful in providing multi-grade teaching to children of different ages and levels. The usage of special methods and techniques makes the learning enjoyable.

For instance, such educational systems use games, storytelling methods, role-plays, flash cards, art and craft activity, educational CD’s and other joyful ways of delivering education. Use of tools like student response pads, content formats like simulated games and educational movies are also effective.

On eINDIA 2011

One of India’s most developed states, Gujarat, is making many new efforts for taking its educational infrastructure to the next level of advancement. The eIndia 2011 will put the spotlight on Gujarat’s innovative strategy for education.

“ICT can be used for Achieving a Co-scholastic Outcome”

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December 19, 2011

IE Education provides low cost IT solutions for setting up Interactive learning centres – Language Labs, Math Lab, other applications and Multimedia Class solutions. Sudarshan Borker, Business Head, IE Education Private Limited shares his insights on school education in Gujarat

The ICT@School Project that Gujarat has implemented, in partnership with NIIT and Educomp Solutions, reaches out to 3600 schools in the state. Similar programs can be extended to other schools. The effectiveness of such partnerships will solely depend on teacher training and their assessment. The success of the program will depend on how the teachers make use of the ICT enabled tools. One has to ensure that teachers do not view this aid as an additional burden.

A simple, easy-to-understand and easy-to-maintain solution has to be provided. Apart from the fact that the hardware must be easy to use, the maintenance issues have to be taken care of promptly. There must be regular updates and improvements of the software should also be encouraged. This can be achieved if teachers are asked to involve themselves in understanding and creating ICT enabled content and making use of the free and huge database of content already available on the web. Children must also be encouraged to contribute.

‘A whole in the wall’ project is a proof of the fact that children in rural areas will be as quick in understanding technology and exploring knowledge database if they are provided with the right tools and guidance.

Gujarat to Leapfrog

With CCE implementation, it has become a must for most schools to encourage scholastic, as well as co-scholastic teaching and learning in classrooms. ICT tools can be used extensively in Gujarat schools to achieve the co-scholastic outcome by ensuring effective implementation of English Language Lab, Math and Science Labs, and Multimedia Classrooms. The biggest challenge private schools and Government aided schools face in implementing the above solutions is teacher training and costs related to installation and maintenance. The challenge here is to find a cost effective and long-term solution.

Reaching the Last Mile

Projects like the ‘Hole in the wall’ were very successful in the rural areas because they provided children the learning edge. A concept like ‘Schools on Wheel’ is a great tool not only for reaching out to the needy, but also to keep them interested in learning and completing their modules. The training of the educators is important. The volunteers/teachers will have to be flexible in their approach and they should be trained with the aim of widening the scope of their teaching.

On eINDIA 2011

Events like the eINDIA are a boost to any state where it has been held, it is a platform for school, administrators and service providers to interact and also educated school about new available technologies and improvements happening in this field.

“ICT Enabled Education-Makes Education Valuable in Gujarat”

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December 19, 2011

InOpen Technologies offers products and services to private schools, municipal schools and the state board and government schools. Rupesh Kumar Shah, CEO and Co-Founder, InOpen Technologies, SINE, IIT Bombay sheds light on the Gujarat experience…

Astute governmental policies and the efficient mapping of resources have helped in bringing out phenomenal transformations. The policies support the endeavour for rapid expansion and growth of knowledge based economy. Gujarat has successfully attracted investors due to its uninterrupted power supply, low cost of real estate and investor friendly policies, which has also created a plethora of direct and indirect jobs.

With GIL and GESIA backing the IT infrastructure, the goal of effective delivery of ICTs comes into play. Some of the enabling policies are Promoting KPO based industries, enhancing supply of skilled workforce, simplification of labour Laws and investor facilitation. This is so unlike the complex procedures that one faces in other states to set up a company. The digital content for education, ICT literacy and competency enhancement, and the ICT based teaching methods that are running across the state are enhancing the scope of education. Gujarat is the emerging educational destination.

Gujarat to Leapfrog

The focus of the government of Gujarat has now turned towards investing in quality education. The state can do the following to leapfrog and lead adoption of ICT in education:

Optimise the investment by using the same infrastructure for multiple purposes. For example, the computer lab of school can be used as training centre for parents so that education continues beyond school.
Use FOSS applications. Even if it may be a bigger challenge to alter the operating system, we can focus on using free applications. This includes educational games such as GComrpis, Tux Maths, productivity tools such as office tools, and programming language like Scratch.
Provide content for school and higher education in local language.

Reaching the Last Mile

To reach out to all students and minimise dropouts three factors have to be taken into account:

Keep the cost of sustained access low – Software licenses have to be renewed and there has to be adequate hardware support. By using free and open source applications actively the total cost of implementation can be lowered.

Do not reinvent the wheel-We need to focus on sustaining the initiatives already in place.

Understand the user needs- Educational needs of society have to be studied so that the technology useful for everyone can be developed. Value added services provided along with regular education will ensure sustained interest.

Make positive use of the social pressure- It is important to create a positive social awareness to maximise the reach of such initiatives. Local role models can be roped in. They can be used to take care of the kiosks/mobile labs as well.

On eINDIA 2011

An event like eINDIA2011 will showcase the cutting-edge developments in ICT, and emphasise upon the benefits of such technologies for school and higher education. This event will help researchers, educators, policy makers and teachers across India by providing them with an update on the latest initiatives from the leading ICT infrastructure providers. eINDIA2011 will be a golden opportunity for witnessing latest innovative solutions from within the Indian ICT industry and beyond.

‘Schools on Wheel’ will go a Long Way in Addressing the Digital Divide

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digitalLEARNING Network

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December 19, 2011

Mexus Education, a Bilakhia Group enterprise, has been promoting learning through technology based platforms like multimedia DVDs, motion films and interactive online tools. Anil Goyal, Director, Mexus Education, shares his views on education in Gujarat

The academic foundations of the state can only be strengthened by an all-round development in education. The development has to be right from the primary stage to the higher stages of education. The attempt to branch-out from conventional mainstream areas by setting up nationally recognized Business School, Fashion Technology Institute, Entrepreneurship Development Institute has actually made education more relevant to the citizens.

Initiatives have also been taken at school-level education, to ensure that students step into these academic pursuits with right orientation and mindsets. Efforts like School on Wheels, Kanya Kelavani, and the partnering with NGOs, are designed to make children better skilled, so that they may fit into the changing economy and tap emerging opportunities in the state.

Gujarat to Leapfrog

The opportunities in Educational ICT abounds. These shortcomings are increasingly acknowledged and accepted by the policy makers, as well as school administrators. In this decade, there is a strong need to use technology. Only technology can make education more relevant to current dynamics of economy. This easiest and most convenient way of addressing this pulsating need is by furthering a teaching-learning process through fusion with ICT. Indian Education is poised to incorporate audio-visual learning, collaborative learning and knowledge sharing elements. ICT is imperative to set a framework for these initiatives.

Reaching the Last Mile

For bringing education to the rural masses, we need to develop a model of education that is relevant to them. This will engage rural masses and ensure that they stay with the system, and thereby dropouts will be minimized.

Application-orientation specific to their skill sets that can improve the chances of getting proper employment will generate interest.
Setting up a robust technology support which is not only easy to use, but also inexpensive and less dependent on existing infrastructure and facilities.
Ensuring that the system attracts a large number of students so that the economic viability of the model is maintained.

Initiatives like ‘Schools on Wheel’ would go a long way in addressing the digital divide, as it reaches out to students regardless of infrastructure, as well as the basic facilities.

On eINDIA 2011

eINDIA 2011 is designed to highlight the myriad initiatives that the government has undertaken for improving literacy levels in Gujarat. This event will prove that when it comes to education, Gujarat is far ahead of other states in the country. The coming together of academicians, educators, government officials and the corporate on a single platform will definitely lead to solutions that foster an inclusive growth in education sector.

“Out-of-class Activities should be Conducted Regularly”

Magazine

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digitalLEARNING Network

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December 19, 2011

Mosaic Network develops innovative tools that are used in educational institutions, government organizations and social agencies. Saurabh Sethi, Vice President, Mosaic Network (India) Pvt. Ltd. shares his views on transforming education…

IT has made it possible for us to bring quality education to India’s remote areas. The rural areas and the smaller towns can enjoy the same quality of education as the developed cities.

Last two decades have seen major turnaround in the way technology is used in education – we have systems like digital boards, eLearning, and mobile learning. IT is helping educational bodies by enabling micro management, any time access to information, quick and proper assessments and evaluation of education. IT has transformed education into a process that is learner-centric, engaging, attention grabbing, cost effective and reachable. The guru is now the IT empowered guide. Having said all that, it must also be accepted that IT has its limitations, which the innovators must address.

Gujarat to Leapfrog

Digital education has seen tremendous growth in the past 4-5 years. I strongly feel that this will continue to grow at higher rates in coming years. Only 10 percent of over 100,000 educational institutions are technology enabled and out of these only 12-15 percent have technological penetration in their classrooms. A market this big cannot be affected by competition and I can’t see any factor that might slow the growth. Right now, I am not even considering the government sector, which has the potential of making the opportunity even bigger.

Valuable lessons can be learned from the best practices being implemented around the world, but there is no formula for determining the optimal level of ICT integration in the educational system. Significant challenges that policymakers and planners, educators, education administrators, and other stakeholders need to consider include educational policy and planning, infrastructure, language and content, capacity building, employment and financing.

Reaching the Last Mile

We must accept the fact that technology alone cannot help us bridge the knowledge and opportunity divide. There are issues related to limited infrastructure, and it is also a fact that many teachers are hesitant when it comes to adopting new technologies. A comprehensive approach to tackle multi-level challenges in implementation as well as delivery has to be followed.

The digital content access shall be made available through a very easy to use tool, with minimal features.
Teaching processes must be standardized to take into account the low skilled teacher/trainer, who needs to follow simple instructions. They must be provided incentives for taking this additional burden.
Periodic inputs should be provided for improving the system if the learning level drops.
Authorities and teachers should have timely access to reports and all kinds of feedback, so that the overall progress being made can be monitored.

“Drop-outs” are one of the biggest challenges for any education system. We should keep in mind while developing the learning content that the idea is to supplement the learning. The digital content should not become an additional burden on the students. The delivery must be engaging and the content should be contextual and theme based. It should adapt to the learners requirements. Motivational exercises and out-of-class activities should be conducted periodically to break the monotony.

On eINDIA 2011

We have been actively participating in your eINDIA events since 2009. We feel that eINDIA is a wonderful platform for enhancing knowledge, networking with companies, and gaining insights into the challenges faced by organizations in the field of education

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