Free laptops for GCSE students
Free laptops are helping a group of students with their General Ceertificate of Secondary Education (GCSEs). Eighteen teenagers at Newhaven Pupil Referral Unit in Eltham were given computers, funded by Mercers’ E-Learning  oundation in London.  The Learn Anywhere project is aimed at helping Year 9 children finish homework and coursework  assignments. Another 12 students at
the unit are due to receive a laptop. They will also pay £3 a week to cover  insurance costs for the machines and  own the computers by the time they finish their GCSEs.

Becta to save cash for schools The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta) has launched a new ICT  Infrastructure Services Procurement Framework. The  framework is expected to save millions of pounds for education  institutions. Around 16 suppliers will handle the  framework, which covers system design, hardware and software
acquisition, training, implementation, and ongoing support. The EU  approved framework is expected to reduce the risk and burden on schools  and colleges.

Nepad launches e-School in Uganda
New Partnership for African Development’s (Nepad) electronic  school initiative is officially launched at Kyambogo College School near  Kampala, Uganda. The objective of Nepad’s e-Schools  initiative is to equip all African
schools with ICT tools, to ensure that African youth graduate with the skills  necessary to fully participate in the information society and knowledge  economy. The three schools that are  already benefiting from the Nepad’s Advanced Micro Devices are Kyambogo College School, St Andrew  Kaggwa Senior Secondary School in Luwero and Bukuya Secondary  School in Mityana.

AMD ’s 50×15 initiative expands educational
opportunities in Uganda A consortium led by AMD launched three digital  nclusion programmes in schools in and around Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. As part of the 50×15 Initiative, AMD is collaborating  with the Ugandan Government, the New Partnership for Africa’s  Development (NEPAD) and 13 additional organisations as part of the  company’s commitment to connect 5percent of the world’s population to the Internet by the year 2015.  The AMD-led consortium is responsible for three of more than 100  secondary schools playing host to NEPAD’s e-Schools Demonstration  Project – a critical initial step in the continental implementation of the  NEPAD e-Schools Initiative. Through these deployments and the overall  NEPAD Initiative, teaching, learning and administration at these schools  are all enhanced. Students and teachers are empowered with ICT  skills and knowledge and digital
resources enable an overall increase in health literacy. The added  technology also facilitates increased efficiency in the schools’ management  and administration systems.

Google joins hand with  California varsity to digitise books
The University of California (UC) system has inked a pact with search giant Google to digitise millions of books in its libraries as part of the  California-based firm- Mountain View’s Google Books Library Project, an initiative that aims to digitise volumes from the world’s vast array  of libraries and make content available online.  Other parties that have joined Google
in its digitisation efforts include the  University of Michigan, Stanford University, Harvard University and  the New York Public Library, among others. The UC network includes 10  campuses across the state that are   home to some 34 million library books, and though UC has not specified which books will be digitised, it has said millions of  volumes will be scanned under
the initiative.
Zimbabwe Army schools adopt ICT
Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) schools have embraced Information and Communication Technology (ICT).  The training programme will enable all ZNA schools to put the computers t  good use. The introduction of the ICT training in army formal schools offers greater opportunities for products of  this system to participate in development as their human  capacities are improved, thereby
enabling them to cope with  demands of an economic environment characterised by  extensive use of information technology.

Egyptian students take IT route with mobile IT clubs
Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, in association with the Cisco Networking Academy Programme, is  giving basic computer training to the masses of remote areas of  Egypt through a series of mobile  IT clubs. The Mobile Information Technology Club initiative is  supported by the United Nations Development  Programme (UNDP) and the Italian  Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Cooperazione Italiana programme and currently features two caravans and  two buses outfitted with PCs. Each vehicle has a satellite link giving  users access to e-mail and the Internet, originally intended to provide people in remote communities  with training and awareness on the  basics of computer, Internet and multimedia use. Each mobile IT club  has been made a local academy, with two instructors per vehicle operating  under the auspices of the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and  Information Technology’s e-Learning Competency Centre, which is one of  six regional Networking Academies in Cairo. The caravans have 20  computers each and capacity for around 20 students, while the buses  have 10 PCs apiece, with space for a student at each.
‘Plagiarism’ online threatening  quality of British degrees
The practice of online sites selling essays and completed assignments to students has reached a 200-millionpound business in UK which is  threatening quality of British education.  The issue has reached such  proportions that the House of Commons education select  committee has decided to hold a  special session later this year to investigate it. New online sites are  appearing almost every week and  many sites report incomes in millions as students prefer to buy their  assignments. According to an investigation made by University of Central England, Internet cheating  and selling tailored essays has  assumed the dimensions of  international trade, the trend has been termed by them as ‘contract cheating’.  Such sites claim that their work is mainly intended as a ‘guide’ to  students, but they actually encourage plagiarism. ‘E-learning Ghana’ launched  ‘E-learning Ghana (www.elearningghana.com)’ to offer a wide variety of high quality affordable e-learning courses has been launched in Ghana by 2Ti Solutions and BusyInternet.
‘E-learning Ghana’ will cover a wide range of technical IT and business
Skills topics. Over 1200 courses and an additional forty to fifty new courses will be added every quarter. The primary objective is to provide  customers with extremely affordable pricing combined with world-class  quality, resulting in outstanding  value. ‘E-learning Ghana’ will be available from BusyInternet throughout the day and all the days.  It will ensure that its users are able to maximise benefits that online learning  materials offer. New Zealand spearheads to  give boost to students ICT knowledge  In a bid to modernise education using ICT, another USD200 million is to be ploughed into the

New Zealand’s schools, over  four years.
The aim is to ensure young people have confidence in using ICT tools.  The project will also provide remote schools with satellite broadband at a  subsidised rate including schools in  the Chatham Islands and on Pitt  Island at a cost of USD700,000 over two years. Laptops for all  teachers account for the biggest  item in this year’s action plan budget at a cost of USD17.58 million.  The programme was announced last week, at Wellington’s Brooklyn  School. It allowed the ministry to demonstrate the country’s first  tablet classroom

Digital library for rural Thai village
International Datacasting Corp’s SuperFlex DVB satellite datacasting system and Datacast XD content distribution and management software played a key role in the launch of Sat- Ed’s “Room for Life” e-learning centre  in the tiny village of Baan Nong Pai in rural Sakhon Nakorn, Northeast  Thailand. The “Room for Life” provides email, e-commerce, video conferencing and an educational video-on-demand digital library to the residents and students of this remote area. IDC provided Sat-Ed’s Learning Centres  with a state-of-the-art digital library system that offered access to  television-based educational material, as well as multimedia content on PCs,  via video-on-demand and playout from web servers.
Philippines Govt, ADB to fund project for info sharing
The Philippines government and the Asian Development Bank have signed a grant agreement to fund the development of information and  communication technologies (ICTs) that will facilitate information sharing  and exchange among the civil  servants in Philippines. The USD500,000 grant will be funded by the Government of Japan through the ADB-administered Japan Fund for  Information and Communication Technology (JFICT), while the  government will contribute an additional USD250,000. The project will be used to  odernise the country’s ICT to improve the  government’s resource development, structures, systems and processes. The project will initially target thirdlevel  executives and will develop and operate a shared database, web portal and online products that include a system of learning and skills  application modules for management concepts, tools and data commonly  used by  hird-level executives.

World Bank pilots
Elluminate Live! Elluminate, Inc., a leading provider of live eLearning and web  ollaboration ‘ICT market to grow less than 5 percent in 2006; IDC The    Taiwan market for information and communications technology  (ICT)  hardware, software and services will see growth of less than  5 percent in 2006, according to a  report released by the International Data Corp. (IDC). While Taiwan’s business application software and business intelligence  products posted total sales of US$71  million and US$10.8 million, respectively, in 2005, the market for  these products is expected to expand slightly by 1.1 percent in 2006.  Educational institutions were the major clients of the personal  computer market in 2005 and the government’s measures to stimulate domestic demand also helped  encourage businesses to replace and upgrade their computer systems, according to the report. Sales of  notebook computers were boosted by promotional packages offered by  manufacturers such as Acer, Asus and HP in 2005, with the shipments  of notebook computers 30 percent higher than that of personal  computers in the third quarter of 2005, according to the report   solutions for the real-time organisation in Canada, announced that the Global Development Learning Network (GDLN), a worldwide partnership of independent learning centers established by the World Bank, will use Elluminate Live! Academic Edition on an experimental  basis for training and collaboration among GDLN Affiliates in selected  countries around the world. By applying distance learning tools and  services, GDLN Affiliates enable organisations, teams, and individuals  around the world to communicate, share knowledge, and learn from each other’s experiences.  The GDLN will start using Elluminate Live! to train over 100 affiliates  located in 80 countries worldwide on its new Activity Management System,  an application used to schedule and coordinate knowledge sharing and learning activities across the network.

Pakistan to have 10 new universities
Ten federal universities will be established across Pakistan during the year 2006-07. Two universities of engineering,  sciences and technology, will be established at Lahore in collaboration with Austria and Germany. Two universities of engineering, sciences and technology, will be established in Karachi with the collaboration of France and China. There were 10  federal government universitiesseven in Islamabad and one each in  Karachi, Gilgit, Lahore and Rawalpindi. Virtual University of  Pakistan at Lahore is still in development phase and no separate recurring funds are being provided.

InstaBook gears up to promote literacy through digital library
The Internet-based InstaBook Corporation (www.instabook.net) has announced a new digital library initiative. It claims that it can promote  literacy around the world. In association with the Project  Gutenberg Consortia Centre and other organisations, instabook.net says it  has created a new service geared to take a wide range of books to libraries and other non-profit organisations.  Visitors to the instabook.net website  can download for free any of nearly 100,000 titles and have them printed on demand if they have access to an  InstaBook Digital Library. Users can  install an InstaBook Maker in their premises by paying the manufacturing cost of the equipment.
Yadavpur University bags award from HP
Hewlett Packard has announced that Jadavpur University, Kolkota in India
has been awarded ‘Technology for Teaching’ Grant to transform the way subjects are taught on its campus. The university will receive approximately USD70,000 worth of technology such as HP tablet PCs,  external storage and optical drives, wireless networking cards and  printers, as well as a stipend for staff to work on the projects, which have to  be completed in 15 months. HP will
help Jadavpur University establish a mobile learning (m-learning) centre  where students taking M. Tech. course in Distributed and Mobile  Computing can access content using hand-held computers. The University  already has a digital library, and a content management and  development system using an mlearning  authoring tool.

Brian League launches an e-Learning tool
Brain League has launched Value intellectual property rights (IPR), an e-  Learning tool that helps knowledgedriven  organisations in sensitising their entire employee force on various  aspects of IP. Brain League is an IP service
company incubated out of the N S Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial  Learning at the Indian Institute of  Management, Bangalore. The company has tied up with Edutech, a provider of enterprise-wide  knowledge solutions, to offer Value  IPR. The tool can deliver the IPR e- Learning modules to as many people  within the organisation as required.

Reliance ties up with Asianet tooffer m-content
Reliance Communications is  partnering with Malayalam satellite television company, Asianet Communications, to offer  Asianet’s content on mobile phones. Both streaming content and  video clips from Asianet would be available on Reliance Mobile  World, the data service platform of Reliance Mobile.  The popular Asianet programme Munshi will be available as a video
clip, while news bulletins will be  available as streaming content and also as video clips. Reliance users  across India can access this new service. Streaming content is  currently available only on select Nokia mobile phones, while video clips of news and other  programmes are available on all Java-enabled phones.   Tarang launches e-learning for CXOs
Tarang, a provider in the enterprise learning space has come up with a programme for the Indian CEOs. The new e- learning programme, ‘Tarang   learning for CXOs’, aims to solve  business problems of comapany executive officers (CXOs) and enhance performance and  productivity in the enterprises.
The programme provides end-to-end learning management system (LMS)  and comprises interactive sessions such as understanding and sustaining  organisational culture, programme  goals, strategies and tactics measurement, and programme  management. With a stronghold in Europe and Japan, Tarang is currently  getting bullish on the Indian market and looking for new segments such as  automobile, IT/ ITeS and financial. Research shows 89% of the CXOs
prefer to take the course in 1-2 weeks. The course is tailor-made keeping in  mind the organisation and  designation, like, a CIO requires technical acumen whereas a COO requires market and financial  perspective.

Harbinger launches Raptivity
Harbinger Knowledge Products have  released Raptivity 3.0, which can help users to create interactivity rapidly and add it to their e-learning content. Raptivity is being used for a host of training applications such as  employee training, customer education, product knowledge  training, IT training, sales force  training, IT application rollout, process training, distance learning, regulatory compliance training and  many more. Users can continue with their existing authoring tool, LCMS, LMS, CMS and Live Collaboration  Systems with Raptivity. The contents  published by Raptivity can be easily used in  esentations, Websites,  documents and help files by users. SkillSoft hosts ‘Beyond Traditional Corporate Learning: New Strategies for Maximising Business Impact’

SkillSoft PLC (http://www.skillsoft. com/), a leading provider of
comprehensive e-learning content and technology products for business and IT professionals within global enterprises, announced that it will host half-day workshops for learning professionals to discuss the  challenges associated with the next  generation of corporate learning and strategies that can be used to
successfully link learning to the  organisation’s human capital and performance management systems.  The workshop series, “Beyond  Traditional Corporate Learning: New Strategies for Maximising Business  Impact,” will take place in 29 cities  across the United States and Canada. The series kicks off on September 6,
2006 in Seattle, Washington, and will  conclude on December 13, 2006 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

e-Learning @ Hilton varsity makes employees loyal
According to the findings of a recent team member survey in Hilton, part of  Hilton Hotels Corporation, being given the opportunity to develop  through Hilton University – the group’s online learning platform –  encourages  mployees to remain loyal. Hilton team members across the  globe are able to access a wide range of learning activities through Hilton  University. These include: 550
SkillSoft e-Learning courses – covering business, professional  and IT skills; Books24x7 Referenceware – featuring best-selling  management, business and
technology books and reference  materials, online mentoring and virtual classrooms.

e-Tool to be used across India
A revolutionary e-Learning tool called LearnITy, could soon be used across
India and could help bridge the growing gap between skills availability and requirement. LearnITy, which is keyed to global  standards, has been developed by a team of researchers at Kolkata’s  Jadavpur University in collaboration with an American university. As many  as 21 of India’s centres of excellence, both academic and research, are  already using this e-Tool. Indian
Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is using it to support the project  assessment of EDUSAT, India’s  satellite built exclusively for education. Sun Microsystems and IBM too have begun using it.  Through LearnITy the student
answers the questions online and gets to know within 10 minutes if he  has achieved the level of knowledge required. The LearnITy assessor is  Java and can be used on any platform like Windows or Linux or Solaris.

JNU all set to march towards electronic age
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is undertaking an e-Governance project to digitalise all the processes and procedures related to administration and admission. The project is partly funded by the UGC and about Indian Rupees 9
million has been set aside for this project. This e-Governance focused  project is aimed at improving the productivity, adapta-bility and overall  effectiveness of the university.  Chennai-based Accel Icim Frontline Limited has been engaged to develop the software-based solution and  applications to suit the specific
administrative and academic needs of  JNU. While Accel is going to provide the applications, Wipro has been appointed as the consultant. The company will also train JNU officials to ensure optimum usage of the  technology on a  ong-term basis.
Intel, NIIT, MP Govt. to launch ICT enabled education in schools
The Madhya Pradesh (MP) government, the MP State Electronics Development Corp., Intel and NIIT have launched an  initiative to revolutionise the Information Communication  Technology (ICT) enabled education in government schools in the state government schools.  Named ‘Gyanodaya’, the Government hopes to extend this initiative  to students across all strata of the society.  As part of this initiative, NIIT will deploy ‘eGuru’, its most popular and
widely accepted virtual computer based teaching solution, besides  providing faculty and teacher training and courseware. In this project, Intel  is introducing a specially designed ‘robust’ computer that can work for  up to six hours even without  electricity, and also the company will provide necessary infrastructure in schools
Microsoft Imagine Cup: India team bags prize
Microsoft Corp on 11 August announced the winners of Imagine Cup 2006 in Agra, after intense competition among finalists chosen from a pool of more than 65,000 students from over 100 countries. India’s Team Avengers comprising Mohit Bhargava and Mitushi Jain bagged the 3rd prize in the Interface Design category. The team from Italy won the ‘Imagine Cup-2006’. The winning team walked away with a cash prize of USD25,000. The second place in the category was bagged by Brazil and the third place was taken by Norway. The Imagine Cup, Microsoft’s premier competition for technology students, provides a forum to encourage creative and technological innovations among university students worldwide. A total of 181 students from 72 teams representing 42  ountries were ultimately selected to participate in worldwide Imagine Cup  finals in six categories. The winners include Poland that took all the three  positions in the Algorithm category. The Short Film category saw Canada taking the first place followed by Poland and US, while Brazil won in the Interface Design followed by China and India. In the last category Project Hoshimi  (Programming Battle), France won the competition followed by the Republic of Serbia

In an attempt to provide an opportunity for improving human   capabilities to all children, through provision of community-owned quality education in a mission mode, the Government of India has launched in 2001-02 an ambitious programme called Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), an initiative for universal elementary education. SSA aims to provide useful and relevant elementary education for all children in the 6-14 age group by 2010. Many a times, state  interventions are seen as alternatives to market forces. When  market fails, the state is requested to intervene. As a broad strategy of SSA programme, the state governments are undertaking reforms in order to improve efficiency of the delivery system. The scheme encourages the states to use ICT and the satellite EDU AT to provide distance education within states to supplement school education with a curriculum base. States too seem to be struggling hard to pitch in making the ICT education integrated to the schools, with a gradual shift of their focus from elementary education to secondary education level. Digital Learning has tried to encapsulate the voices heard from the state heads of the SSA project and the education secretaries, who are marching with the mission of getting kids enrolled and to provide them with the education with innovation.

Dr Alok Shukla, the Education Secretary of Chhatishgarh says, ‘We have many schemes for using IT in education. Under SSA we have  started a scheme called “Eklavya Computer aided self learning”. In this  scheme fully animated multi-media software has been created based on  textbooks of classes 6 to 8. This has been loaded on touch screen  computers, and has been kept in the school corridors for easy access by children. Under Indira Soochna Shakti Scheme, free computer education is being given to more than one hundred  thousand girl students at secondary level with the help of NIIT. Interactive radio broadcast is being used for teaching-learning of English language  at primary level. We have already started using the facility provided by  EDUSAT in 50 schools in Koria district. We intend to extend it further  to other districts.’      Under the SSA scheme, Rajasthan has embarked on a large-scale education initiative. The initial pilot would have computer learning centers in all state districts to provide elementary education to students. Kerala too is trying to bring in IT in very big way. IT is in the curriculum for students in 8, 9, and 10 standards. For secondary level examination IT is one of the  optional subjects, which interested children can opt for. The state  provides education to schools in rural areas through EDUSAT. It has also  prepared CDs on various subjects, which are meant for middle schools  and high schools and is organising  live classrooms by telecasting lessons from expert teachers. Jammu too has a multi-dimensional strategy to implement ICT and make  ICT a vehicle for transformation of school education. ‘One programme is  run under vocationalisation of  secondary education and the other is innovative IT component in SSA. We are trying to provide computer labs to  higher secondary schools. By the end of the year we must have covered  around 350 higher secondary schools,the focus will be to teach computer  education as a  subject in class 11 and  12. Second is, to provide a cumpulsory computer literacy to  every child in higher secondary school, irrespective of whether he/she  has taken computer education as a subject or not. We will have acomputer familiarization programme.  Initially it will begin from primary classes, and expose them once in a  month to common computer practices. And fourth is, computer-aided education and to make that more  attractive in primary classes’, says Mohammad Manzoor Bhat, the  Education Secretary of Jammu and  Kashmir. While the obligation of  universalisation of education programme is on state governments, a  few NGOs, and some foundations of IT companies too have come forward partnering with government in this  direction. Azim Premji Foundation has set up 12,000 computer aided learning  centers (CALCs) across India. The Foundation provides curriculumbased learning in the form of multimedia packages and CDs. West  Bengal has tied up with IBM to take ICTs to students. IBM is providing  the necessary IT infrastructure,  education services, IT support and project management for 400 schools  initially. Each school is equipped with 10 computers. The schools are  expected to train more than 150,000government is also thinking on  imilar
lines; teacher training and the  development of curriculum and examination system is developed with  support from MNCs including Intel and Microsoft. The Rajasthan  government is rolling out the UN’sGlobal e-Schools and  ommunities  Initiative (GeSCI) along with  technology companies such as Microsoft, Intel and Cisco. Satyam’s  Byrraju Foundation, Airtel’s Bharti Foundation and some other players  are very keen in this sector, states like Kerala, Uttaranchal, West Bengal and Rajasthan being proactive in making such partnerships. The programme calls for community  ownership of school-based
interventions through effective  decentralisation. This is to be augmented by involvement of  women’s groups, Village Education Committee members and members of  Panchayati Raj institutions. The Programme is having a community  based monitoring system. The Educational Management Information System (EMIS) will  correlate school level data with community-based information from  micro planning and surveys. Besides this, every school is encouraged  to share all information with the community. K.M.Ramanandhan, Kerala StateProject Director, SSA, says, ‘Now we are taking the assistance of  Panchayati Raj Institutions and we are taking the cumulative planning to  school level. Then we have school level work committee member who is  very much involved in the planning process. Then we have PTA (parentteacher association), which also help  in planning at school level. Once it  is  done at school level, we consolidate at the panchyat level.  Here is a planning and monitoring committee headed by the  Grampanchayat president. This  committee approves the panchayat  education plan.’ But Lida Jacob, while placed as the  Education Secretary in the Kerala state, said, ‘To the Education Department and to Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan we give academic support and training. Whether this training is giving them advantage or not has to  be monitored. Panchayats can play an important role, but I think we need to  make it more systematised. Most of  the Panchayat members are graduates and their commitment to education is  very high among the elected members  of Kerala. We need to channalise it into monitoring the classroom activities. They can provide support to the teaching facilities and  infrastructure. SSA is providing funds, trainings, etc. We are trying to   ensure that all these funds and programmes are implemented properly  and we want to ensure that local bodies play an important role in  this process.’ While describing the community role,  the state came up with another dimension of implementing SSA programmes effectively. ‘In Kerala, we  have started a initiative under the modernising of government  programmes called ‘Social Audit’, through community initiative, to improve quality education. Under this  scheme, we want schools to conduct  their individual self-assessment. Teachers themselves can evaluate  their schools in terms of students’ performance, teachers’ performance,  infrastructure of the school, etc.’, said Jacob. SSA recognises the critical and  central role of teachers and advocates a focus on their development needs.  Setting up of Block Resource Centres/Cluster Resource Centres,  recruitment of qualified teachers, opportunities for teacher development through participation in curriculum-related material development, focus on classroom  processes and exposure visits for teachers are all designed to develop  the human resource among teachers. Shyam Shankar Prasad, the Jharkhand  State Project Director, SSA, commenting on how the teachers’  training programme in the state works, says, ‘We train teachers through  Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). We have District  Institute of Training where we provide training to teachers for 20-30 days.  The regular teachers are trained in English language too.’ Considering teachers’ capacity building as the biggest challenge in the direction of  integrating ICTs into the education system under the SSA programme, other hurdles like the problem of connectivity  for the last mile in rural areas is also emerging. Despite the market  buzz around connectivity for the next billion, not much is happening  in rural areas, which still grapple with low teledensity, poor Internet  access, etc. For Prasad, ‘The problem is faced  more in hilly tracks and in forests areas in Jharkhand, densely  populated by the tribal people. We face the difficulty in establishing  centres in such places because of lack of infrastructure. We have to  shift the schools sometimes to some urban places or most habitated places,  may be due to lack of road or lack of school buildings or else to ensure safety to the girls. The difficulties lie  with the geographical areas in some  districts, which are really difficult to  manage with.’ Telecom companies, which have  ushered in the mobile revolution in India prefer to stick to cities and tier  two towns for broadband access since they find it easier to recover the costs of heavy licensing fees in cities  which enjoy a larger subscriber base.  There is no incentive for these companies to venture into the hinterland. The Central government’s  State Wide Area Networks (SWANs) policy brings a ray of hope to  overcome such challenges. This envisages broadband access at the  district and block level to solve the connectivity gap. The very success of SSA in getting  kids enrolled, and the demographic patterns of India, induces a surge in  demand for schooling with a renewed capacity, education with innovation,  and making ICT@schools happen.

In conversation with Subhash C Khuntia, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Human  Resources Development, Govt. of India

India has been a major learning seat in the world for centuries. While it has some of the best educational centers and institutions in the world, it  still has to deal with challenges in its primary education, strive to reach 100% literacy, and struggle to bring in any innovation to the whole education system. For the country the need of the hour is to try integrating ICT in the existing education scenario to catalyse the change process and to reduce the skew in education and knowledge dissemination. Ministry of Human Resource Development in India while implements the central government’s responsibilities in educational matters, also coordinates Information and communication initiatives that are geared towards development of the education sector. Subhash C Khuntia, Joint Secretary, Department of Education, Ministry of Human Resources  Development, Government of India, in a face-to-face conversation with Rumi Mallick of Digital Learning shares more of such responsibilities, challenges and visions, which are part of the country’s attempt to give a new dimension to development through education with innovation

? What is the most pressing educational challenge India is facing?
The current challenge to education in our country is three fold that of access, equity and quality. At the level of secondary schooling, only about 40% of the children with the age group of 14 to 18 are in school.  Access to secondary education is not available everywhere in the country;  there are still pockets and long distances that need to be covered.  Secondly, every section of society
needs to be equally represented in the educational system, where they  participate equally- this is still not addressed in India. The isadvantaged  sections also need to be brought into  the education sphere. The enrollment rates of girls are much lower than the  boys and physically disabled section is also not represented well.  Then of course quality of education is a major challenge, which needs to be  addressed on a priority basis. All the three aspects are interlinked. If there is no quality then parents wi  feel discouraged to send their children to schools. So when they feel that after this much education, their children are not well qualified to enter in a job market, they would rather send their children to the job market  without education. That is why quality is important. If quality is good  then of course participation rate will improve.

? How have we progressed in last 10 years?
We have progressed to a large extent. More students are in schools in numbers and also in terms of percentage. But it is not satisfactory.  We need to insure this at the very first stage that everybody from standard  one to eight aged six to thirteen should be in school. Actually it is  desirable to extend it till the age of 16 so that from class 1 to 10 they have  skills to enter in the job market. Now the challenge is to bring it to a kind of satisfactory level. At first stage we are  hoping that by 2010 most of the  children up to 14 years age are in the school and after that we have to concentrate on secondary stage

? The status of the teaching profession has plummeted in all regions of the world. What are the current measures the ministry has  undertaken to keep this fraternity motivated and to build their capacity as well?
This itself is a societal problem and it is not only seen in India, but is a problem for several other countries of the world too. This is  because of salary differentials in between this sector and the private  sector. Right now the economy is in  boom and there are alternate employment opportunities available; hence we do not see many people in  the teaching profession. But at the  same time there are people who are interested in teaching. The motivation has to come from society, appreciating the decision of person  who chooses to teach and adopt this  profession that helps the next generation. There is also a need for the teachers to continuously  upgrade their skill through training  programme and our responsibility is to give them other facilities and  amenities that helps them in teaching.   So, ICTs can provide an opportunity for the teachers to upgrade their skills.
? Information and Communication Technologies are supporting many of the recent gains in education worldwide. Do you believe in the context of India, ICTs have any real potential to transform education?
There is a tremendous role for ICT in education everywhere and India is no exception. The problem in India is that when we talk of ICT  infrastructure we find schools do not have a room for computers and many schools do not have
electricity, telephone connections, etc. However all this will not only  be possible but will be essential in few years from now because we  have to adopt technology to keep up with time and without ICT we will be  left behind. So it is not to choose between ICT and no ICT but to  equip ourselves such that we make the best use this technology in education.

? What initiatives has your department taken to integrate ICT in
schools (in secondary education)?
We have from time to time started different initiatives, there was a class programme earlier and there was a satellite and computer literacy programme, now we have reformulated the scheme called ‘ICT in  schools’ where we give assistance to  the centrally sponsored schools and government aided schools which are equipped with infrastructure and the  learning material. In this scheme, one,  we focus on teaching computers to children and second, use computers as an aid in teaching and also for self-learning. Now the results have started coming, but in a small way. About 500 schools in a  year are able to access this scheme, and we have a long way to go. We  have about 100000 secondary  schools in government and government aided sectors and we

Ideally every school from standard one to twelve should have the adequate numbers of computers but because of  resource constraints we had failed to prioritise this. Now we have one programme for  secondary and higher secondary schools, which is the ‘ICT in schools’ programme, where we feel that computers can be used in a big way

have to scale it up so that all schools can avail this facility. Ideally every school from standard one to twelve should have adequate  numbers of computers but because of resource constraints we had failed to prioritise this. Now we have one programme for secondary and higher  secondary schools, which is the ‘ICT
in schools’ programme, where we feel that computers can be used in a big way. It provides an aid in teaching particularly hard subjects such as  science, languages and mathematics. Through animation, science and  geography can be made more interesting, that is why ‘ICT in  schools’ programmes has been started. At the same time we also  understand the implication of teaching children in schools. The  secondary schools are easier to manage because there are 146  thousands schools in the government and government aided sector where as primary school it is even larger numbers. Since  ideally we should cover all the schools, several elementary  schools are also being targeted under
the Sarva Shiksha Abhiayan (SSA), are being assisted with computers.  Over a period of time we have to look at the pupil-teacher ratio in  availability of computers.

? Under this scheme, is there any central learning content that is being prepared or is the learning content being initiated at state level?
Under this programme we have asked the state governments to make use of funding to develop the content or  procure already developed content. Generally in states, contents are  generated in SCERT (State Council for Educational Research and Training),  but it varies from state to state. We have not emphasized that there is only one kind of content that could be  taught in schools and some flexibility  has been given to the states to innovate. Otherwise there will be no  innovation at all. We are looking at the process where some model  content can be developed but we do not want uniform content all across
the country, because content should  be area specific and hence the state governments will be encouraged to take the initiative in this regard. Several states have made good progress in creating content through  some parallel schemes, which are run by state governments, for example,  Government of Karnataka Rajasthan  and Uttaranchal. They have developed good content and most of  them in their local languages, which is distributed among the schools.
Sometimes school teachers themselves develop content which is helpful in teaching.
? In this whole programme of ‘ICT in  schools’ what do you think is the real challenge in terms of scaling this ICT in education programme?
One challenge is that of teachers’ skills and motivation to use ICTs. We need every teacher to be trained and use ICT for teaching. For this, we  need to have a massive programme to retrain teachers. At the same time  during their pre-service training they could also be trained in the use of  ICTs. We are going to implement a  small pilot project with the help of UNESCO where we would like to  introduce new curriculum  pre-service training so that new teachers can be trained.
? Please let us know a little more on this new curriculum? Is it still in  the planning stage?
Some curriculum development has already taken place, but it has to be looked into in a more comprehensive manner. Teacher training syllabus is  not the same everywhere in the country; it depends on which  university the college has an affiliation. We will have to take a  comprehensive view so that it becomes a part and parcel of the curriculum. In fact, many of the  training colleges also vary in having adequate amenities. Some  programmes have to be done so that
these colleges themselves can have  ICT infrastructure. ? Several countries have ICT policy  and ICT in education policy and the policy status is already quite developed though not established,  notably in Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia. What is  the status or the scope of such a policy in India?  Such a policy would be relevant but at the same time it is not as if we are in a policy vaccuum. There are policies, each state government  here has got an IT policy and a part of policy would be how IT can be  used in education. All these policies have something mentioned on  education. We can bring out all that and put it at one place, which will  have focus and thrust on ICT in education so it will be worthwhile to work upon that.

? Some private companies are providing their financial and  practical support in the realisation of the infrastructure requirements for education. Please  elaborate on such idea of partnerships. How do you envisage  involving such private companies in other areas of education system as well? 
We need every teacher to be trained and use ICT for teaching. For this, we need to have massive programme to  retrain teachers. At the same time during their pre-service  training they could also be
trained in the use of ICTs. We are going to implement a  small pilot project with the help of UNESCO where we  would like to introduce new  curriculum in pre-service training so that new teacher’s can be trained

Such partnerships are most welcome and private sector has a big role to play. If India is recognised in the field of software today it is basically  because of the private players, particularly in those situations when  private players are providing infrastructure or acting as service  providers. There is a huge scope from private players.
? In which time frame do you think most Indian schools be sufficiently connected and equipped with ICT tools to carry out ICT-enabled teaching and learning activities?
We still have 60% of students outside the school at the secondary stage. We  cannot say only ICTs or getting children back to school will help achieving ‘ICTs for all’. I do not visualise that every school will be  fully ICT-enabled in next five years, but we would definitely like to make a dent in the next five year plan that
starts from next year, where at least secondary schools, should be provided with adequate infrastructure so that ICTs can be  used in education.
? In your role as Joint Secretary of Secondary Education, Ministry of
HRD, what do you feel should be the most critical steps that your department should take to achieve the goals and objectives of education in India as well as connecting the country’s human resource to the knowledge society?
The purpose of education is to develop the intrinsic personality of every human being and of course another very important purpose is  that education should enable person to be gainfully employed. The main  goal is the personal development of a  person so that education becomes really purposeful and people feel that by being educated they have added  value to life. The Department would like India to be an educated nation.  We are a very large country with a huge population so this formidable  task has to be accomplished.
There is a role for ICT to play at plus-two stage (standard eleven and  twelve) also, because this is a stage which bridges between school  education and higher education. We would like children to diversify  to vocational fields so that if the
need arises, they can go for employment after plus two and later  when they feel like, can come back for higher education.

? What education event in your lifetime would you consider as a milestone for your country?
When you see every child from the age group of 6 to 16, that is from class 1 to class 10 is in school and 99% of children of that age group are in school, that will become the milestone for the country. We are in the right  direction now.

Astrid Dufborg is the executive  director of GeSCI since March 1,2006. Before joining GeSCI,Dufborg worked as an Ambassador and ICT Adviser based at the Swedish UN Mission in Geneva, where she led the Swedish work within the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). She also represented Sweden at the UN ICT TF. Prior to that she what for the Swedish international Development Co-operation Agency (Sida) and was stationed in four African countries over a ten-year period. Her last positions at Sida were Director for the Department for Infrastructure and Economic Cooperation, and Assistant Director General.

GeSCI works at the local, national, and international level to support, to create, and to implement strategies to harness Information Communications Technologies (ICTs) for education and community growth. Astrid Dufborg, Executive Director, GeSCI, while speaking to Digital Learning elaborates these works and contributions that Astrid Dufborg is the executive touch to the belief that ‘Education changes life’

? Why was GESCI created?
The power of harnessing ICTs for development and the improvement of people’s lives is clear and urgent. In education it is particularly clear that ICTs, applied inclusively and imaginatively can act as catalyst in  failing education systems in the developing world – and help unlock  the creative potential of entire societies. Over the last number of  years thousands of diverse, small-and medium scale projects and pilot projects aimed at exactly this  harnessing of ICTs for social good, have been implemented and are  leaving their mark worldwide. Though their individual results may be small  in face of the magnitude of the global education crisis, the difference they  are making to individual classrooms and communities is at times  astonishing. Over all, these pilots show that ICTs are improving education. Implicitly  they also show that up-scaled end-toend  strategies could ensure such improvements are made all the more  immense and wide-reaching in effect. In this context, in 2003, the UN ICT  Task Force, promted by Irelan Sweden, Switzerland, and Canada, established the concept of the Global eSchools & Communities Initiative. Taking up the challenge of the Millennium Development Goals,  GeSCI’s purpose is to support  stakeholders in the development of comprehensive strategies for wholesystem deployment of ICTs in  education. Now an independent Notfor- profit organisation with a secretariat in Dublin, GeSCI believes  that the missing links can be made visible and joined-up in the ICTS for  development chain, by convening  comprehensive multistakeholder partnerships at local, regional and national level – anywhere there is a demand – and creating end-to-end,  holistic strategies and implementing them in a sustainable, collective  manner.

? How does GeSCI approach the field of ICT Education?
Our imperative is to respond to the needs of real people – and real gaps in educational strategies and community development. Therefore we try to bring all stakeholders to the table in a collaborative way, and to complement  and coordinate existing efforts already   underway. We look to understand the context and then clearly articulatewhere we can add value. Typically our value is inherent in our ability to bring stakeholders to the table, build and implement a plan and to mobilise resources to do so.  We are working to varying degree with such stakeholders in Namibia, India, Ghana and Bolivia. All four  countries have in common a demonstrated readiness to take on  ICT in education strategies in a comprehensive and national way and  believe in the importance of ICTs and  the potential for greater impact.

? You’re obviously very passionate about the potential of this initiative. Why?
There’s a huge gap between policy makers and practitioners. You can bring people together but you cannot align them effectively. People are saying: we should do this, or that, but there is no understanding in the middle – no interpreter between the two. That’s one of the reasons that  GESCI was established – to act as the interpreter, the facilitator.

? You say the goal is to “raise education standards.” What do you mean by that?
One of the things we mean is directly contributing to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The primary education goal is a huge one.  The statistics speak for themselves: around 370 million school-aged  children are not in school, not even  near a classroom; sixty-seven per cent of the illiterate adults in the world are women. If we can lower those  numbers, we’re doing something right. Traditionally ICT in education  has tended to be technology led. In putting the educational cart before the technology horse so to speak, we mean to make a further impact on education standards. ICTs can be hugely beneficial to learners and teachers across the curriculum, but  the key is strategic, goal-orientated   and well-planned intervention. Where we achieve this, educations standards will rise.

? GeSCI is considering a role in Teacher professional development.
Why is this?
It is teachers who shape the future through their work. They are multipliers, authority figures and agents of socio-economic change  that must be empowered. Therefore, they should have all available tools  at their disposal, including the full  range of information and communication technologies – not just the Internet, but also standalone  computers, radio, TV and telephones. However, in order to provide them with the skills they  need to become facilitators of learning, to improve their own  effectiveness and to insure that the ICTs that are finding their ways into schools in the developing  world are put to good use, teachers urgently require training in ICT. However, it was recognized that educators who had been  trained in ICT often abandon their teaching careers for jobs that pay better salaries – a form of teacher  brain-drain. New models of capacity development of teachers and administrators are key to the success and sustainability of education strategies and to a systematic approach in the use of ICT for education.

? What are some of the major achievements of GeSCI in terms of policy and implementing strategies to harness ICTs for education and community growth?
There have been several so far, but I’ll just mention three. One is the  central strategy called ‘complete or end-to-end system’ that guides all of  our work, and provides a model approach to development. By this, we  mean programmes that are comprehensive, demand-driven,  capable and efficient, and coordinated. Another is our work in  Namibia, where we are working closely with the Namibian  government, and other stakeholders, to implement a national ICT in education plan. A third is our work on  developing practical knowledge tools for policy makers and practitioners,  such as studying the costs of benefits of various technology options  for education.