IE Article by Atanu Dey , 1st February 2008
Some points raised by the author:
[Author]
1) The Technology can only address the technology aspects for the problem.
Sociological Problem:Tech solutions won't help and may make the problems
worse
=>It is failure of India State in last 60 years ,that it has not been able
to provide roti
kapda or Makkan to all its citizen.
Forget about the Roti , Kapda aur makaan,and talk water, potable water
is not available to all the citizens .And it doesn't mean that people who
don't have water,can't have roti,kapda or makaan, or till the government is
able
to provide basic facilities to the citizens of this country,they don't have
the right
to education.
[Author]
2)MIT Media Lab XO Laptop :Cost 200$
It ignores basic economics.
It help in primary education but not economic feasibile.
100 million laptops, 50,000 Crore ( 10 Billion Dollars).
Benefit weight against the schools,teachers.nutrition and healthcare.
=>
Budget of Indian Defense: $ 20 Billion = 100,000 Crores
National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme (NREGA): 12,555 Crores.
Indian Revenues: 100 Billion Dollars.
Indian Population (Age 1 - 15 years)(360 million)
Below Poverty Line => 25%
Population (Age 1 - 15 years)under poverty (360 million/4=> 90 million
students
Laptop Cost for 100 million students
100 million * 200 $ = 20,000,000,000 $ = 20 $ Billion
Cost of teachers:(50 students per teacher)
2 million teachers * 250$(10,000)/month * 12 = 6,000,000,000 $ per annum
Age 1 to 15 =>
Laptops are not mandatory for a one month old child.Assuming a laptops is
provided to a child in standard VI (approx age 12 years,3 years is the
approx
life of the laptop,she won't need a laptop every year),it serves as a carrot
policy to retain them to stay till this standard. =>
Age 12(100 million/ 15 =~ 7 million children per annum at minimum best who
use the laptops)
Assumed for Age 12 => 7 million laptops/annum => 1,400,000,000 $ = 1.4 $
Billion
What about bargaining with the different companies(Asus,HCL,etc) to provide
low cost laptops to india, which can decrease the cost by 10%-20% with this
big order. => 1,200,000,000 $ = 1.2 $ Billion
Now include the possibility that other children 2/3rd (who can afford the
200$ )would also order but,may be laptop from different source.which gives
India huge bargaining chip to get the cost down through sheer economics.
What about the internet connectivity?
Schools can be provided with the WiFi facilities,
Cheapest:
- BSNL provides Rs250/256Kbps/ upto 2 Mbps/month. 1GB download.
-50 to 100 Rs /laptop connectivity charges.Feasible
-WiMAX(Cost have gone down to 500Rs/500MB download /month)
-Let the ISPs provide cheaper bandwidth to the laptops at the cost of
few 100 Rs,
-With the order of this magnitude each laptop can get online for Rs 50
or 100 per month.
-A single Connection BSNL( home) is shared by 5 students(50Rs month @
school premises/per child only) at current cost.Private companies jump over
each other to get this kind of consumer and competition can possibly result
in wireless networks all over India.
What about maintenance,
=>each district would need to have a service station which would be taken
care by the Manufacturer.Resulting in Jobs Creation.
What about getting the productions done over here, which also provides jobs
in India?
School dropouts: 50% & by XII the 90%
Failure is due to the low priority given to the primary education.
=> Right,
In the Knwoledge Commision Report of October 2006 ,only two paragraphs
are devoted to the primary educations as a passing mention presumably ,
while vocational,higher, and oper education take the major space ,while
professional education hogs the lime light with three subsections(medical,
legal,managament,engineering) of atleast two paragraphs each.You can
guess why the leaders of this country take pride in talking about the
IITs/IIMs
at foreign shores and providing resources and grants to these
Institutes.And
when someone talks about plight of primary education ,same leaders' tails
get
tucked between their dhotis while replying how India is a poor & developing
country with meagre resources.
[Author]
3) Thankfuly, GOI decided against the OLPC.
XO would have been one of the goodied to be distributed by the governmenet
to favoured
contistuencies in exchange for political patronage.
=>
What is wrong with this instead of Televison being given to the each
household in some state of india,why can't laptops be given for the
education. Let the states decide to get the votes by providing the
laptops to children.
Same state had the distinction of succeeding in midday meal schemes
for the kids in all the schools,which decreased the dropout levels from
the schools.and today it is one of the most successful schemes in
India for education,in keeping the dropout levels in India lower than
before.
What about the content ?
Only possibility is Open and Free Content. Which can be
reused,modified,reused
redistributed in any form
[Author]
Education is for well off.Coz of total control of Govt in the Educations
sector
Education its population is most important task of any society,perhaps
second
only to the primary needs of food,shelter and clothing. Many (poor)societies
achieve universal primary education.
=>
In spite of everything,if the Government of India(GOI) doesn't think much
about the
low cost laptops( or the failure of the XO for some reason),
because of the cost of the Laptops being so low and companies providing the
bandwidth through different wireless technologies at cheaper cost all over
India,
more student would be able buy the laptops creating a next revolution in
India, where students teach themselves through the content easily
available.
Even if libraries don't exist, where teachers are absent /on elections duty
/doing the census, where classrooms are in dilapidated state and in spite of
the
GOI.
Children of this country would bridge not only the digital divide but the
education divide between the haves and have-nots. Helping them to better
employment opportunities and financial prospects.
--
Regards,
Tirveni Yadav
Freed.in/2008
22 - 24 February 2008, JNU , New Delhi
knowledge shall set you free
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