school track
Technology in Education
Taking Literacy Forward www.tamana.org
“We would need technology because we do not have enough teachers. We are not talking about education at this moment, we are talking about access to quality education and equal opportunities.�
Dr Shyama Chona President Tamana, Ex-Principal DPS RK Puram, Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan Awardee
Please comment on the changes that are being introduced by technology application in schools, with respect to capacity building amongst teachers and students. Talking in terms of mainstream education, India is the youngest country in the world and our number of kids outside school is estimated to be almost one crore. And if we really want to bring them into school, in line with the Right To Education bill, then we need millions of teachers and trillions of schools. Education is not like building airports or roads, where you have Public Private Partnership and things can just emerge. Education is a long term investment. Results can be seen after 14 years of a child joining school. The problem is that unless we 22
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use technology we can not educate our children, whether they study in centres or schools or studying from home. We would need technology because we do not have enough teachers. We are not talking about education at this moment, we are talking about access to quality education and equal opportunities. So the need is so huge, so we need technology which is one of the solutions. Now whenever we talk of technology, we talk about cost. Then are raised the questions about who is going to bear the cost and how is it going to be used. I still think that in the absence of very good trained, quality teachers to teach this age group, where we want to retain the children. You know the findings are that out of the number of students who
enter school, only two percent are able to reach the university level. So surely, there is something more than the employemnt factor which is taking kids away from school. It could be bad teaching, bad curriculum, it could be anything. So to retain kids there you have to make learning interesting and fun; and have outcomes which would lead to life long learners as per the UNESCO. Therefore the role of technology is very important. What is the scope of ICT capcity building amongst mainstream and special schools? The opportunities are immense. These are greater than the challenges but it depends on the investment again. But the government, does not necessarily