Early last month, the Central Advisory Board of Education unanimously adopted the National Policy on ICT in School Education (NPISE). For cruelly neglected Indian primary, secondary and higher education, ICT offers a magical opportunity to rapidly create 21st century learning environments. Vimal Joshi & Summiya Yasmeen report Although India’s spectacular — by the yardsticks of the country’s bullock-cart econnomy — IT revolution is almost three decades old and has transformed the grammar of Indian industry, the impact of its spin-off ICT (information and communications technology) has been much less dramatic. Despite the buzz and hype generated by new technologies education companies and government about ICT revolutionising Indian education, the reality in the classrooms and lecture halls of India’s 1.30 million schools, 611 universities and 31,000 colleges is very different. According to Elementary Education in India 2010-11, published by the Delhi-based National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA), 81.3 percent (1.05 million) of India’s 1.30 million schools don’t have computers — the basic tool for ICT delivery. Of the remaining 18.7 percent (243,000) which have introduced computers to their students, a majority are in the private sector indicating a huge digital divide between private and government schools with the latter having been completely bypassed by the computer-aided learning (ICT) revolution. Inevitably, the situation is better in higher education institutions with the National Mission on ICT in Education (NMEICT), launched in 2009 by the Central government “to leverage the potential of ICT for the benefit of all the learners in higher education institutions in any time any where mode,” providing internet connectivity to 390 universities and 14,578 colleges countrywide. Yet unfazed by the tepid response of government schools and colleges to the high-potential ICT revolution and other depressing statistics (52.75 percent of schools don’t have electricity, 12 percent are single-teacher schools and 42.75 percent do not provide book banks i.e. libraries) of Indian primary and secondary education, ICT education companies — hitherto blue-chips of the stock exchanges — are flooding the market with teaching-learning equipment such as interactive display boards, language laboratories, digital content and educational software. According to industry sources, the ICT in education market in India is estimated at Rs.285,000 crore ($50 billion) and expected to grow to Rs.570,000 crore ($100 billion) by 2014. “There’s unanimity that technology-based solutions are the key to revitalising India’s education system and making its future generation globally competitive. The challenge is how effectively and quickly we integrate digital technologies into our education system. As per our estimates, a majority of India’s 70,000 plus private schools have invested in some form of digital infrastructure though there are still challenges around availability of integrated platforms and under-utilisation of technology. The challenge in education is delivering quality education to all. This can be addressed through ICT in a very cost-effective manner. The good news is that the government is focusing on bridging the digital divide through initiatives such as the RTE Act, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and allocation of nearly $1 billion in the 11th Plan for the National…
