July 5, 2010

In accordance with the provisions under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, officials of the Union human resource development (HRD) ministry have asked Goa to increase its school timings. The former was in the state to conduct a workshop for the southern and western states of India on the Act's implementation. At a one-day seminar held at the Goa International Centre at Dona Paula on June 26, ten states and union territories were briefed on the measures to be implemented to bring the RTE into force. Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Gujarat, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Dadra Nagar Haveli were among the regions that participated. At the workshop, the three HRD officials took stock of the existing education scenario in the states and union territories and suggested measures to improve the quality of education in the regions.

Goa was asked to appropriately amend the Goa School Education Rules, 1986 to increase school hours in Goa so that they meet the provision of seven and half hours of schooling daily as per the RTE Act. Goa has also been advised to review its own act in a manner that will facilitate the implementation of new requirements in the education sector. The state has been asked to empower village education committees that were formed under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. These have the power to take up civil works of government schools in the area worth upto INR 50,000.

Ten thousand teachers recruited in Gujarat

K-12

digitalLEARNING Network

July 5, 2010

The Government of Gujarat recently issued appointment letters to about 10,000 Vidhya Sahayaks (assistant teachers) recruited through an online process. The letters were handed over to teachers by Chief Minister Narendra Modi in Ahmedabad and other ministers in the various district headquarters. About 5,000 assistant teachers have been recruited for maths and science subjects and another 5,000 for English language. One of its kind attempt, the education department carried out a centralised online recruitment and completed the selection within a month.

Excelsoft K12 Initiative

Magazine

digitalLEARNING Network

July 1, 2010

Excelsoft Technologies Pvt. Ltd. having worked with reputed clients and partners in the education domain over the decade, has acquired a deep understanding of the value ICT can provide in enhancing teaching and learning. This knowledge has enabled us to create powerful solutions that deliver great learning experiences and make schools, effective 'Centers of Learning'.

SARAS e-learning technology product suite provides a complete infrastructure for technology enabled learning as depicted below:

Product Strategy:

'Activity Centre' inherits the cross-disciplinary learning, learning by doing, creates higher order thinking and goes beyond the curriculum.

ICT enabled 'Subject Learning Labs' go beyond traditional classroom based learning. It touches and visualises concepts and fosters collaborative learning. It also guides and coaches students in finding, interpreting and building knowledge from multiple learning models.

'New Age Classrooms' use digital content to explain abstract concepts through structured lesson plans.

'Project Based Learning' empowers educators to move from a teaching role to that of a mentor or facilitator role who will be able to direct students to access the abundance of information available in a methodical and channelised way.

Empower administration through 'School Education Resource Planning' which will give anytime, anywhere access to all the stakeholders and be connected with student portfolios, various reports and dashboards.

'Assessment Centre' will help the student to prepare for board examination of CBSE, ICSE, IB/IGSE and various state boards.

The same can be extended to prepare students for CET, IIT-JEE, AIEEE and similar entrance examinations.

'Teacher Training Centre' empowers teachers in areas like IT, content creation and management, technology based teaching & learning methodologies, soft skills, new education policy frameworks and educator role in today's schooling system.
Excelsoft provides a comprehensive end-to-end solution to the customer on a Build Own Operate and Transfer model including the required Hardware, Software, Creative Learning Themes, Technology Platform, Digital Content mapped to various Curriculums, Dedicated Academic Person and Strong Support System on academics and technology.

Business Strategy:

Setting up a chain of schools under the umbrella of 'Excel Public Schools'
Building referral schools through strategic partnership with best known schools to showcase our solution capabilities
Direct sales to setup a strong Academic Partner Model to work with schools
Synergise with school solution providers for international markets
Partner with world class complementing products and services providers to bring the best of the experiences into our solutions
Address the CBSE Market initially and then expand to ICSE, IB/IGSE and a few state boards
Plans to reach out across the country and international markets

People Strategy:

An advisory board will facilitate the feedback and experience of customers on all the solutions. The board will also help to finalise on the best pedagogical framework and methodologies of education delivery in a school

Continuous upgrades and new content development with a pool of select subject matter experts, best in the field

A curriculum design & development team will create new curriculum and learning designs and convert them into various media formats including 2D and 3D

Expert e-learning technology team to continuously enhance the solution with new modules to meet the demands of educational research and pedagogy Ensures the best, strong support team to schools For details please

visit: www.K12.excelindia.com

Bringing Best Practices, Driving Knowledge Economy!

Magazine

digitalLEARNING Network

July 1, 2010

Conference Report on ‘The Role of Technology in 21st Century Education’

Venue: SKICC, Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmirs

digital LEARNING, the media partner for the event, shares a snapshot

Globalisation has provided a radically new dimension to the Education system across geographic boundaries governed by two main drivers of society: a) Continuous advances in information and communication technology; b) Speed and availability of knowledge and information in various formats. Knowledge and learning have achieved a new level, so have the methodology to deliver and methodology to learn. Today knowledge is shared across the world on a click of mobile phone, on a click of mouse or on a television screen.

With the objective of bringing best practices and partnerships across the globe for the benefit of Indian education institutions, Global Knowledge Network Society in association with S. Chand Harcourt (India) Pvt Ltd and S Chand Group organised a conference on “The Role of Technology in 21st Century Education” at SKICC, Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) on April 24, 2010.
The conference was presided and inaugurated by Honourable Minister of Education and Public Enterprises, J&K Government, ShriPeerzada Mohammad Sayeed. The other distinguished guests of the conference were Shri Ashok Ganguly, Former Chairman, Central Board of Secondary Education, Desh Bandhu Gupta, Chairman, J&K State Board of School Education, Shagufta Parveen, Director, Department of School Education, J&K, Sheikh Bashir Ahmed, Secretary, J&K State Board of School Education. The Conference was attended by 150 school principals from across Jammu & Kashmir.

After the welcome address by Navin Joshi, Vice President (publishing), S Chand Publishing, Amit Gupta, CEO & Director, S Chand Group, introduced the conference to the distinguished guests by highlighting the importance of blended teaching and learning approach. He urged the August delegates comprising of 150 school principals to provide their teachers and educators with flexible technology aided educational solution tailored to the unique needs of students. Shri Ashok Ganguly, in his keynote address shared that technology has penetrated across governance, businesses, social network, personal domains and educational space. He stated that India is fast emerging as one of the major service providers to global business ventures, therefore there is a need to build a ‘Quality Quadrangle’ consisting of Knowledge, Skills, Attitude and Value. There is a strong need to redefine pedagogy and learning and delivery methods. He emphasised on remedial teaching equipped with right technology. He also insisted and urged the school leaders to share the best practices across and to draw a roadmap guided by the National Curriculum Framework 2005 providing right direction to students, structuring the classroom curriculum, harnessing the use of technology and engaging the stakeholders.

The Honourable Minister shared with the distinguished delegates that today’s economy is a knowledge driven economy. The process of knowledge acquisition and creation has witnessed tremendous changes in the past two decades due to the growth of technology. Globalisation and advancement in technology are driving changes in the social, technological, economical, environmental and political landscapes at an unprecedented rate and magnitude. In order to drive the 21st century digital economy, teaching

ICT in Education @ National Institute of Open Schooling

Magazine

digitalLEARNING Network

July 1, 2010

Usage of ICT for facilitating learning definitely is a thrust area for enhancing the quality of courses offered by the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS). The focus in recent years has been a transition from print-based instruction system to the ICT supported instruction dissemination.

NIOS took a significant step of providing the facility of On-line Registration for admissions and on-demand examinations under the NIOS Online (Ni-On) Project.

Salient features of Online Admission

Admission process made simpler and faster
Freedom to select Study Centers of choice through a computerized system on a First Come First Served Basis
Admission open throughout the year
Improved Learner Support Services and faster redressal of problems
Easy payment of fee online through Credit Card or Bank Draft

NIOS ONLINE (NI-ON) PROJECT

The Ni On Project, a unique initiative in the field of school education, which is conceptualised to enable NIOS to move in the direction of e-governance so that it could provide better educational services to its learners as a service provider and also improve efficiency, transparency, accountability and cost effectiveness with high quality. Such an e-governance initiative has not only helped to bring about a structural transformation of NIOS to a higher level of openness in education but also allows NIOS to play a lead role in the horizontal transfer of this technology to other State Open Schools and Open and Distance learning institutions of developing world. This Project was launched on 3rd July 2007 with the in-built mechanism for Online Admissions to NIOS, through online submission of application form available on the NIOS website. This gave learners the freedom to access education from anywhere in India, at any time without involving any outside agents.

From the year 2010-11, the NIOS has introduced 100% On-line admission to facilitate learners to register themselves with it.

For the detailed procedure for On-Line admission and other details, learners May log on to the NIOS website www.nios.ac.in

Under Ni-On, a Learner Support Centre (LSC) is functional in NIOS to address the problems of online learners related to admissions, examinations etc.

The Ni-On Project of NIOS won the National Award for e-Governance 2008-09 instituted by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances and Department of Information Technology, Government of India.

On-Demand Examination Scheme (ODES)

To introduce greater flexibility in the system, the NIOS has introduced the On-Demand Examination System (ODES).

Under the system of ODE, a set of question papers having defined number of items is generated randomly by the computer out of the already developed question bank on the basis of question paper design and the blue print of the subject as and when demanded. All such generated Question Papers are different with the same difficulty level. A number of items having comparable difficulty level are developed for each activated/marked cells of the blue print. These questions covered in the item bank test learning objectives under knowledge, understanding, application and skill competencies of a student. For identification, all these items are given a code indicating the subject, the content area to which the item belongs, the objective being tested, the type of question, the marks allocated to the item and the serial number of the item.

Block for Online Admission	Dates for Online Admission	Examination in which students can appear
I Block	1 March 2010 to 31 August 2010	First time in the next year April/May 2011
II Block	1 September To 28 Feb.2011	First time in Oct./ November 2011

In contrast to the conventional examination pattern in which a learner has no choice with regard to dates and timings of examination, this novel concept introduced by the National Institute of Open Schooling gives freedom to learners to appear in the examination in the subject(s) of their choice whenever they feel confident about taking an examination.

ODE is being conducted in the NIOS headquarters at NOIDA as well as all its regional centres. The results are made available on the NIOS website within a period of about one month.

Submission of examination fee can also be made on-line by the learners.

On-line Course material

The entire NIOS course material is available on the NIOS website for the benefit of its learners. The syllabus, Tutor Marked Assignments as well as question papers of previous examinations held are also available on the website.

Interaction of learners with the NIOS has been facilitated through e-mail and 'Ask Your Teacher' provided on the website.

Under this scheme, there are four streams of On-line admission catering to learners with different needs.

Stream 1 : is open to all learners as per the laid down eligibility criteria for Secondary and Senior Secondary level.

Stream 2 : is open from 20.05.2010 to 20.07.2010 for all those learners who had appeared but could not clear the Public Examination of Secondary/ Senior Secondary levels from selected examination Boards. Learners will be eligible to appear in the October/ November 2010 Public Examinations of NIOS.

Stream 3 : open throughout the year for learners wanting to appear in On-Demand Examination System(ODES) of NIOS for Secondary Level.

Stream 4 : open throughout the year for learners wanting to appear in On-Demand Examination System(ODES) OF NIOS for Senior Secondary Level.

Other Areas of IT Applications

Proper connectivity is established with the NIOS Regional Centres for better and effective communication services.

The student information system beginning from registration to certification has been computerised. So also are the processes of registration, scanning of admission forms, pre-examination work, conduct of exam, secrecy work, spot evaluation result processing and result declaration.

Learner Support Centre (LSC)

Under the NIOS on-line initiatives, a Learner Support Centre (LSC)is established to address the grievances of the learners, be it for admission, examination result, TMA, issue of Identity Cards, general counseling etc. The LSC functions on the pattern of a call centre with the on-line support of counselling engaged as the expert executives. The LSC functions with the support of toll free call at 1800 180 9393 by the caller. Initially the learners connect to the IVRS and facilited by the voice recorder for any queries. In case the learner intends to have additional information, she/he is connected to the counselor known as executives. The learners can obtain the information by sending an e-mail to lsc@nios.ac.in. The reply is sent instantly by the on-line experts.

On-line Applications for Accreditation

The NIOS has introduced the e-accreditation process for choosing its partner institutions, popularly known as AIs and AVIs, by inviting online application. This milestone is achieved to obtain accurate information related to accreditation of institutions. The compiled information of the accredited institutions has been also placed on the website for information of enhanced accessibility of the learners. Even though most of the governance activities are supported by the ICT in the institute, lot more grounds are yet to be covered to ensure the learning activities are also predominantly supported by ICT. The institute is in the process of developing on-line based learning with well designed LMS.

IT related subjects/courses offered by the NIOS

NIOS has been offering the following courses to support ICT based learning.

Data Entry Operation (Stand alone course with Secondary & Senior Secondary level)

Computer Science ( Stand alone course with Senior secondary level)

Certificate in Computer and Office Applications

Certificate in Hardware Assembly and Maintenance

Certificate in Basic Computing

Certificate in Advanced Web Designing

Certificate in Desk Top Publishing

Certificate in IT Essentials : PC Hardware and Software

Technology@School Education

digitalLEARNING Network

July 1, 2010

digitalLEARNING Magazine presents in this issue insights on topics related to school education sector in India, with a special focus on ‘Tech-City’ of Hyderabad. It highlights recent developmental issues related to education in the context of ICT, from perspectives of top level government bureaucrats. It brings out a detailed examination of the law on Right to Education (RTE) and the role that ICT May play while it is being rolled-out.

Technology has always been playing an important role in education, and can be effectively used to promote inclusive and student centric learning. With education becoming a right for all, it is time that the immense potential of low cost technologies be exploited to help make the education system more responsive to the learning needs of the huge student population, school drop outs, and differently abled children. The possibilities are huge and it is for us to explore and experiment with the available opportunities.

For the purpose of comprehending how ICT can be of possible help in execution and sustaining this national level drive, principals across 25 schools in the technology hub of India, Hyderabad were approached and interviewed. The highlighted issues that were brought out through these discussions entailed factors of equity, quality and access, with reference to use of ICT for RTE implementation.

The data collected was not only an eye opener, in terms of the factors that principals emphasised upon with respect to RTE, but also described the lacunae and the boon of integrating ICT in course and curriculum, availing open source e-content and online examinations. The issue, additionally, entails information on the digitalLEARNING eINDIA 2010 Track. The details entail tentative agenda for the parallel sub-tracks that would be rolled-out at eINDIA 2010 including higher education, school education and vocational training and skill development, respectively.

Learning with Video Games

Magazine

digitalLEARNING Network

July 1, 2010

Video games can be used in the school environment to fulfill certain pedagogical functions, such as tutoring, exploration, entertainment, attitudinal change and the practice of certain personal and social competencies or skills

Educational video games are inscribed in the historical continuity of a long tradition associated with the dissemination of pedagogical games. From the doll to the toy soldier, the puzzle to the role play, the presence of these artifacts indicates educational situations apparently far removed from the school context. Often the conveyors of sociocultural stereotypes, these games and toys reflect evolving techniques and mentalities; they illustrate the growing impact of scholarly knowledge on recreational learning activities.

Concurrently with media education, there is a growing interest in the usage of video games as learning tools. Current research in the area is focused on usage in schools of titles marketed to the general public and of video games created specifically for the school context. As in the medieval,
CAN VIDEO GAMES BE USED FOR LEARNING?
“We shape our tools, and afterwards our tools shape us,” wrote Marshall MacLuhan in 1964 about television. Today, young people subjected to the universe of the media, computer technology and video games are developing new cognitive and relational skills, and a growing number of teachers and researchers believe that video games facilitate the development of
children’s abilities and so, in that sense, shape them as well. Prensky (2000) has summarized these new skills. Description of cognitive or behavioural skills: Accelerated and simultaneous
information processing; • Ability to process and distinguish several types of information from various sources rapidly and simultaneously; Prevalence of image over text; Preference for searching for meaning via visual content and then spending time on text to refi ne, expand and explore understanding of the subject; Random and distant access instead of step-by-step and local; Ability to jump from one kernel of information to another by creating connections rather than following an information narrative or hierarchy; Familiarity with the concept of
synchronous and asynchronous •modes of access to scattered and distant resources; Activity and play rather than passivity and work; Tendency to prefer an active learning model (trial-and-error method) rather than learning in order to be able to act ; The game is valued and becomes relevant because it is played on the computer; Gratifi cation and fantasy instead of patience and reality; Expectation of gratifi cation based on effort; Computer universe as a metaphorical space of fantastic and entertaining ,
MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS OF VIDEO GAMES
To develop a motivating educational video game environment, some qualitative criteria should be observed in order to adopt players’ or teachers’ points-of-view. An important study of 40 educational video games presented a series of players’ recommendations. Nearly eighty percent of the respondents said they used an exploratory trial-anderror method. That method is defi ned as the absence of a planned action strategy and involves actions/ reactions depending on the circumstances, consequences and feedback of the interface or the system.
Learning about the way to play the game is acquired through accumulation, that is, observation and active participation in the game rather than reading the instructions and rules. The reasons justifying this approach are the lack of clear instructions and objectives and a desire to explore the object of the game freely. Players often begin their exploration with the trialand- error method and then possibly will look for a form of support, assistance or guidance by reading the instructions or hints appearing on the screen. Therefore, learning games must be presented in the form of an exploratory space for discovery with help functions that can be consulted in context as needed. The announcement of a purpose or objectives to be attained seems important for encouraging more commitment to this type of game.
CSIKSZENTMIHALYI’S FLOW CONCEPT
Csikszentmihalyi’s fl ow concept is the basis of all criteria promoting involvementand motivation in video games. Flow is the physical and mental immersion people experience when they are involved in an activity so deeply that nothing around them seems to matter. In the fl ow state (being in the “zone”) the proposed problem and the skill to resolve it are in balance.

CONCLUSION AND RESEARCHPERSPECTIVE
Several research questions related to learning using video games are on hold. These include investigation of the long term effects certain types of video games may have on cognitive, identity and social development for younger generations. The study of adaptive learning systems is only in its early stages, opening the way for several types of experimentation, especially with clients who have cognitive defi cits or learning disabilities. In parallel, the all digital paradigm has encouraged the emergence of social and cultural practices that emphasize visual and iconic thought as well as social connection. This has led to the birth of a new perception of space and fragmented time, and the actual sensation of presence even when
at a distance. Finally, the emergence of social networks (Web 2.0) bears the seed of a collaborative intelligence that is wide spread and very dynamic. These knowledge aggregators, by virtue of the phenomenal quantity not only of information but also of individuals whom they connect, put a much fi ner point on the issues of cognitive overload and the disorientation that results from virtually infi nite hypermedia navigatio

Employability in Industry is a Relative Term : Dr P K Barhai, Birla Institute of Technology, India

Interviews

digitalLEARNING Network

July 1, 2010

What is your vision in imparting quality education in BIT Mesra?

Our aim is to prepare students with thorough background on basic principles of engineering, technology, science and management and train them not only to become globally employable but also to make them ready to take up any career in industry, research and development organisation or academic institutions.

What is the role of BIT Mesra in the field of higher and job specific education in India?

BIT is the first institute in India to introduce a Post-Graduate Program on Space Engineering & Rocketry as early as 1964 and also the first institute to have ‘Science & Technology Entrepreneurs’ Park, where fresh graduates can start nursery small scale industry units and move to their own units once the products are developed. BIT also offers industry oriented courses with very close interactions with IT companies.

What are the major challenges that come across the way of in the field of technical education?

The main challenge is the quality that depends on students, teachers, adequate laboratories, infrastructure which requires huge financial resources.

For private Institutes, to meet these quality parameters and remain globally competitive is a big challenge. Besides, the regulatory bodies create obstacles through delays in approval of new programmes, departments etc. Even research supports by the Government are discriminatory between Public and the Private Institutes.

How much can ICT help in it?

ICT can help in areas like virtual labs, teaching through multimedia and audio-video conferencing in shortage of competent faculty through visual presentation and in evaluation process.Although, ICT may cut down costs in terms of salary to faculties, it is no alternative for physical infrastructure like equipments, buildings, computers and accessories, networking etc.

Your comments on industry readiness of Indian Graduates.

Given the best institute and facilities, it is not possible to impart all the relevant knowledge in a vast course of a formal degree programme. Although there is a general notion that 80% of the graduates coming out from technical institutes in India are not employable and do not have industry readiness, it may be true only for some specific industries.

There is nothing like industry readiness unless some industry is looking for skilled labourers. Institutes should enrich students with integrity, team spirit and motivation.

What could be the way of interaction between industry and institution in that matter?

Industries look forward to students with self-confidence, right attitude, motivation to learn, leadership potential, team spirit and good communication skills through creation of Industry-Institute Interaction Cell, organising of seminars/workshops, conferences, involvement of experts from industries, deputation of teachers to industries for at least three months in a year and industry related projects in final semester.

How do you see public-private partnership for enhancing job oriented and technical education?

Looking at the need of technical education in India, Government does not have enough resources to raise the Gross Enrolment Ratio from 10-11% to 25-30% in the near future. This is much less compared to 40-50% in developed countries.

PPP is a must for at least to attain this goal. Government should provide the land and money and the private parties should be responsible for the governance, academic coordination, approval from regulatory bodies etc.

Your vision for Higher Education in future.

The Gross Enrolment Ratio of higher education is less both in general Universities and in technical institutions in India, the academic value of Indian higher education is at par with the global standard.

What is lacking is the knowledge-oriented teaching and learning.

Engineering courses must be integrated to the basic sciences which lead to new inventions and technologies. Right decisions will help us to keep a balance between quality and quantity in leading the world.

Futuristic Schooling System : Pramod Sharma, T N Academy-Gangtok, Yadavindra Public School, India

Interviews

digitalLEARNING Network

July 1, 2010

Yukti Pahwa in conversation with Pramod Sharma, who brings with him an illustrious career in education spanning 37 years to the school. He was awarded the National Award for Teachers by the President of India. He has served as Principal for over 2 decades across various institutions, including the T N Academy-Gangtok, Yadavindra Public School- Patiala and Mayo College-Ajmer.

Please tell us about the international collaborations your school has engaged in.

Genesis Global School is running in collaboration with Clifton College, U.K. and L’Ermitage International School of France in Paris. Principals of both these schools are on board of this school.There is a continuous exchange of teachers to understand the best practices across nations. Taking internationalism further, we have created a room for video conferencing, mostly famous with the corporates. In school education, this is being experimented with for the first time. I am in touch with few schools, who will be engaging in the project by replicating what we are doing and then we will together measure the success of the project by sharing presentations and information. So the process becomes multi-dimensional.

I am aiming to introduce ability to understand perceptions of others and self in various contexts amongst my students and eventually community. Example understanding of an Indian child of concept of pollution, where there are lots of industry, will be very different child who lives on an island, next to sea. So I want my children to understand that perceptions of the same problem could be different and we must appreciate it. I feel understanding perceptions is one of the philosophical points that I want to stress on.

What is your understanding of role of ICT implementation, RTE and inclusion.

ICT is to play a major role for execution of RTE. RTE, nobody can deny its need, the only challenge is terms of implementation, which will smooth out over years. But its more important to get factors such as blackboards and teachers presence, in place.

At the moment, government has taken a softer route out by asking private school to bear part of the cost, along with the government. But the other aspects of the RTE that need emphasis should be checked. They say that 25% seats need to be reserved but what happens in government schools, shouldn’t 100% seats be reserved for the neighborhood children, because it is totally owned by government.

Your opinion about the opportunities and challenges that ICT use represents to education sector.

It does not hinder in anyway because it is important for faculty and students to be trained in ICT. We now have interactive whiteboards in every single class. So students can take computer aided learning to next higher level.

We also have school management system which will be digitalised. Teachers from varying background but for them to gel as a team, understand and work for implementation of the philosophy of the school is the challenge that we see before us, at this point of time. For instance, we have computer science syllabus adopted from CIPP (Cambridge International Primary Programme) as a early programme and we are also affiliated to CBSE. So computer science as a subject has been taken up on these lines.

While choosing ICT enabled infrastructure, what helped you zero down on a vendor for your school infrastructure?

All the products look fascinating but for me the proof of a vendor is backing of a happy school where their products have been implemented. Many products are there in the market, lots of things are promised and we also fall for the big names in the market, there are assumptions that it would be good. But such is not the case always. We have gone to an unknown vendor from UK, which is providing services to a few school, not many. But we can not discredit the big names also. We also have some e-solutions from S.Chand, for a few subjects across fourth to eight standards.

Hyderabad Government on K-12 Initiatives : Smt Chandana Khan, Government of Andhra Pradesh, India

Interviews

digitalLEARNING Network

July 1, 2010

Yukti Pahwa in conversation with Smt Chandana Khan, the Principal Secretary to Government is the Official head of the Department. She is responsible for careful observance of the Business Rules and Secretariat Instructions in the Transaction of Business in the Department.

Kindly share with us the nature of initiatives you look after as the Principal Secretary of Education?

I have taken over as Principal Secretary of Primary Education very recently. Since primary education is a very critical link to secondary education and also at the same time a very fertile ground on which every sectoral initiative can sprout, I am trying to see with continuous effort that Government initiatives convergence can be achieved.

What is your opinion about the budget allocations for the elementary and secondary education? According to you, what are the opportunities and challenges it presents in front of the government?

For both Sarva Sikshya Abhiyan (Rajiv Vidya Mission) in the State and Saakshara Bharat (Adult Education) Programme launched by Government of India last year, there is adequate Central fund given for primary education. While these are opportunities, the challenge is to ensure quality of education through proper planning and reach the goal of enrollment retention and quality education at the primary, upper primary level and also to facilitate non-literates to be literates.

RTE act has come into being, starting April 1, 2010. What are the steps being taken by government for its smooth implementation and overcoming the challenges in its way?

Right to Education Act is a very important Act. Successful implementation of the same can bridge to barrier between India and other developed Nations. Rajiv Vidya Mission is the implementing instrument for this program. Some of the barriers exist in Andhra Pradesh to reach the different segments in the tribal areas, focus groups like SC, ST, Minorities and most importantly girl children, as there is an existing gap in gender terms.

What is your opinion about eliminating the board examination system and introducing a grade oriented system for evaluation of students at the secondary and senior secondary level?

I am supporting the initiatives that concern introducing grade oriented system for evaluation of the students at the Secondary and senior secondary level.

What do you view about the PPP for bringing about improvements in the sector of school education? Has your department indulged in any such partnerships?

It can be appreciated that though education is a core area where Government cannot abdicate responsibility, at the same time Public, Private partnership in the sector of School Education can strengthen Government initiatives . Agencies like UNICEF are already helping in this Endeavour. There are number of NGOs which are also working in the field of Education and are capable of handling several issues of community mobilization for the cause and also in convincing the parents.

What is the role that you see Information and Communication Technology playing for improving school education system?

Information and communication Technology can play wonders in improving School Education system, as frequent and continuous monitoring is required in the field of School infrastructure, presence of teachers and monitoring the quality of Education being rendered. Already Rajiv Vidya Mission has prepared G.Maps (Geo-Physical Map) for every District showing location of Schools and other related amenities, so that at a glance the infrastructure position in every District can be seen for further intervention.

Can you tell us about any of your initiatives for integration of ICT in school education? Any future initiatives that you would like to share with our readers?

The G.Map project as mentioned, is a good example of introduction of I.C.T in Primary Education. We want to proceed further to cover other aspects.

Please share your thoughts about platforms such as digitalLEARNING magazine and events such as eINDIA 2010, that work for promotion of ICT integration in the education sector.

eINDIA2010 is a very welcome event that works for promotion of I.C.T. integration in Education sector. It is a very broad platform which will offer opportunities for further learning and exposure to the functionaries in the field of Education.

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