Industry Speak
“Gujarat has immense potential to become India’s major IT hub” Classteacher Learning Systems provides digital solutions to over 700 schools, 1 million students and 25,000 educators across India. Rohit Pande, CEO, Classteacher Learning Systems, shares his insights Advent of IT is having a seminal impact on Gujarat’s education segment. The state’s literacy rate has increased by more than 10 percent in the last decade. The census data of 2011 released on March 31 shows that Gujarat’s literacy rate has clearly increased from 69.1 percent (according to 2001 census) to 79.31 percent (according to 2011 census). While the state is providing the much needed impetus to the K-12 segment, there exists considerable scope for improvement. According to NASSCOM, with an improved infrastructure and education, Gujarat will be in a position to drive IT growth in the next decade. Som Mittal, president of the IT industry body, says that while currently only six cities, including Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Pune, form 90 per cent of total IT industry, newer cities like Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mysore and Chandigarh will drive growth in the next decade. Gujarat has immense potential to become the next IT hub. With information technology it is easier to achieve the goal of building a society that is rich, aware and discerning. IT is an enabler of social inclusivity; it can bring information to the masses, edu-
cate them and enable them to enjoy a better quality of life. Gujarat to leapfrog ICT can enable data assessment, data analytics in schools, and this is something that will go a long way in creating the minds that will lead India into the future. • Digital interactive education has seen tremendous growth in the last two years in the market across both large and small towns. • We see greater than 100 percent growth in market for assessments, as well as web based learning. • E-learning is growing both as a support tool for existing educational institutions as well as for delivery of high quality solutions for the end user. • Digital education has crept into our classrooms and has become mainstream in big and small towns. • It helps in engaging students as students see and interact with the subject they are studying. Gujarat is blessed with a dynamic economy. The state government is very serious about improving the education level and has started several programs to achieve full literacy, such as universali-
sation of elementary education, District Primary Education Program and compulsory primary education. As per the figures of 2011 census, the female literacy rate in the last decade has increased by 12.93 percent in Gujarat. Moreover, the male literacy rate was 79.7 percent in 2001 census, this has increased to 87.23 percent in 2011 census. The male literacy rate shows a rise of 7.53 percent in the last decade. This is a notable milestone of progress. Reaching the Last Mile Of the nearly one million public schools in India less than 0.2 percent have access to IT infrastructure or computerbased education. Setting up a school is a cumbersome process. The costs for building materials, municipality permits, electricity, remuneration for teachers and maintenance is quite high. Out of approximately 200 million children in the age group of 6-14 years, only 120 million ever go to school, hence it is important to use IT technology to take education to everyone’s doorstep. As a part of its Vision 2020 plan, the government is looking to increase the number of school going children by 30 percent.
On eINDIA 2011 eIndia 2011 Conference will be a unique platform for the various stakeholders who are driving ICT initiatives in the domain of Governance, Healthcare and Education. 32
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