Dear press and media community, (Bcc intentional) In postscript are details about our sustained efforts to create awareness, enable as well as pressurize the current Goa government to improve the plight of Computer education in schools given its extremely high potential to positively impact the teaching effectiveness of all other subjects as witnessed across the globe.
While the state government has recently gone into an overdrive signing MOUs with Google and others, practical outcomes from these remain to be seen given the fact that this very same government has been squatting on basic simple things in its direct control for months and years. Govt's inaction despite schemes and budget availability, and tendency to waste precious public funds on unsuitable hardware and unnecessary licensed software for school education needs to be strongly questioned. We request your support to push the govt into action. Kindly cover this story in your publications and let us know if you need any quotes or bytes from our Executive Team. Thank you very much. Regards, *Goa IT Professionals – GITP *| www.goaitpro.org | goa...@gmail.com *Important links: About GITP <http://www.goaitpro.org/gitp> | GITP on Social Network <http://www.goaitpro.org/follow-us/> | GITP Core Team <http://www.goaitpro.org/our-team> | *Goa Skills Registry - GSR <http://skills.goaitpro.org/> ============================================================ ====================== *Project GEIT (Goans Empowered with IT)* - a Goa IT Professionals (GITP) group initiative *Email:* projectg...@gmail.com *Facebook*: www.facebook.com/GoansEmpoweredWithIT *YouTube:* http://goo.gl/ezWXbn *Project GEIT @ Tech Balcao: *25April2016 (https://youtu.be/Ksn4XB4StlM), 18July2016 (https://youtu.be/zP3ayfjGrxs) *Contacts: *Eruch Coutinho +919823120406 / Sangeeta Naik +918805162600 / Vincent Toscano +919765410020 ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Goa IT Professionals - GITP <goa...@gmail.com> Date: Wed, Sep 14, 2016 at 2:32 PM Subject: FOR CM's ATTENTION: Education portfolio looking bad...needs urgent action...see email for details To: cm goa <cm....@nic.in>, Laxmikant Parsekar <laxmikantparsekarbjp@gmail. com>, cmo goa <cmo....@nic.in>, Chief Secretary - Goa <cs-...@nic.in>, Goa Director DoIT <dir-dit....@nic.in>, dir-educ....@nic.in, dir-dte....@nic.in, "subhash.phaldessai" <subhash.phaldes...@yahoo.com>, Managing Director - Infotech Corp of Goa <m...@infotechgoa.com> Respected Chief Minister, Laxmikant Parsekar: While we are appreciative of your efforts to establish a MOU with Google which has some standard value-adds for Goan schools, GITP would like to bring to your attention the following points related to your Education portfolio for urgent action from your government: 1. As explained to you in our meeting on 27Jan2016, and even as of today, the state of Goan school computer education continues to be terrible. This remains a serious blot on your tenure as the Education Minister of Goa. a. Barely 1-2 of the 10 govt-provided PCs are in working condition. b. Most software licences (Windows OS, MS Office) on govt-provided PCs are pirated. c. Syllabus is centered on the clerical instead of the creative and productive use of computers. d. Most computer teachers are incompetent even on basics. e. Scheme240 created by your govt a year ago and the Rs.25 crores provisioned in this FY budget are yet to reach the schools. 2. With extremely cost-effective and rugged hardware available today (viz. Raspberry Pi etc.) and Free Open Source Software (FOSS), it is criminal for any govt to be spending precious public funds on purchase of the traditional expensive and delicate hardware and licensed software which have historically only led to scams and the above mentioned plight of our Goan schools. As explained to you on 27Jan, with just Rs.1.58cr every school in Goa could be given 10 Raspberry Pi (or equivalent) kits to revive their dead Computer Labs. Any Goa govt. department found violating such cost-effective recommendations will face GITP’s and the larger IT community’s wrath in public including RTIs and legal action if necessary. *Our core team members have witnessed first-hand a senior Education Dept. official (name to be disclosed if needed) recently claiming that Goa InfoTech Corp. has issued a tender for traditional hardware for schools. Please stop it immediately and channel the same funds towards the right hardware (software free) as per our above **recommendations based on **time-tested global best practices.* 3. Goa Board of Education has initiated a major drive to upgrade the Computer Education syllabus for classes 9-12 from next academic year as a result of which they have held workshops in each taluka for all school Computer Teachers besides also holding a seminar for all HSSE Principals. GITP and its well-wishers have contributed in this effort by conducting some of these demonstration sessions, lending our Project GEIT hardware to Goa Board and offering to train all school computer teachers for free. Such self-initiative is commendable for a govt body and GITP vouches its full hands-on support to any other Goa govt. department that proactively works to improve the situation. 4. As briefly discussed with you by our Vice President, Vincent Toscano, at the recent Google MOU event, an initiative akin to Goa Board’s needs to be undertaken by the Dept of Education to upgrade the Computer Education syllabus for classes 5-8. We understand certain organizational impediments exist there but with the recent appointment of Nila Mohanan as the Education Secretary GITP now optimistically looks forward to progress in the right direction. Please provide your full support and force as needed to move things forward with this dept. 5. Excessive delays on disbursal of Scheme240 and the 25cr budget do not reflect well on your govt in an election year. Kindly help fast track their implementation without potential mis-use by traditional unscrupulous elements in the governmental supply chain. 6. Lastly, kindly fast track the Google MOU commitments related to Goan schools on a war footing so that its positive impact is evident at ground level at the earliest. We keenly look forward to your leadership and drive to *get the above mentioned things done within the next couple months before the election freeze denies you the opportunity to salvage the current poor track record of your Education Dept.* Be assured of GITP’s full support in doing the right things for the budding Goan generations presently in school. FYI this communication will be released to the press after a couple days. Regards, *Goa IT Professionals – GITP *| www.goaitpro.org | goa...@gmail.com *Important links: About GITP <http://www.goaitpro.org/gitp> | GITP on Social Network <http://www.goaitpro.org/follow-us/> | GITP Core Team <http://www.goaitpro.org/our-team> | *Goa Skills Registry - GSR <http://skills.goaitpro.org/> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Goa IT Professionals <goa...@gmail.com> Date: Mon, Feb 8, 2016 at 5:13 PM Subject: Minutes of Meeting between Goa Chief Minister and GITP Core Team on 27Jan2016 To: cm goa <cm....@nic.in>, Laxmikant Parsekar < laxmikantparsekar...@gmail.com>, cmo goa <cmo....@nic.in>, Goa Director DoIT <dir-dit....@nic.in>, "subhash.phaldessai" < subhash.phaldes...@yahoo.com>, md-itg....@nic.in, Managing Director - Infotech Corp of Goa <m...@infotechgoa.com> Cc: Goa IT Professionals <goa...@gmail.com>, Vincent Toscano < vincent.toscan...@gmail.com>, Gaurish kambli <gaurishkam...@gmail.com>, Sangeeta Naik <sangit.n...@gmail.com>, Tirath nagvekar <ntir...@gmail.com> Dear Chief Minister Mr. Laxmikant Parsekar, Goa IT Professionals (GITP) Core Team is grateful for your precious time on 27-Jan-2016 afternoon to discuss regarding Goa IT policy, industry and education. For the record and follow-up we would like to share with you the key points of our discussion and a few subsequent updates from our side: - Besides yourself this meeting was attended by: - Goa government: Ameya Abhyankar, Subhash Phaldessai, Nilesh Phaldessai - GITP: Vincent Toscano, Gaurish Kambli, Sangeeta Naik, Tirath Nagvekar - In reply to your question about the direction and pace of DoIT we explained to you our official position that the recent Goa IT Policy is a respectable start, though it could have been much bolder given that Goa is lagging decades behind other Indian IT hubs. However GITP is extremely pleased with the appointment of Mr. Ameya Abhyankar as the Director of IT dept and his vision of an innovative blend of Tourism and IT as an unique offering from Goa to the IT industry. Also his results-oriented focus and work as witnessed by us in our initial recent interactions with him point towards *this year (2016) being the game changer for the IT industry in Goa. However this is subject to he being fully empowered and supported by yourself and the entire Goa government, to which you confirmed your full support, empowerment and financial provisions for Mr. Abhyankar to execute on the plan.* - In response to our reiteration of the need for *proactive promotion of Goa as a IT Hub at relevant national and international events* Mr. Abhyankar confirmed his department’s eagerness besides availability of necessary funding to pursue the same with a joint team comprising of government and industry. And that preparations are underway for the Make in India event coming up in Mumbai in mid-February. - With reference to our prior meeting with you on 01-Sep-2015, we reiterated the need to speed up the process of inventorying the un-utilized and under-utilized Goa government spaces in Goa which could be quickly upgraded as IT workspaces at minimal costs as an interim arrangement while the Chimbel IT Park comes up in next 3 years. *We pointed out a few glaring examples of such spaces and Mr. Abhyankar assured to visit these within a few weeks and explore options for their utilization for IT and other industries.* - We explained to you how technology and innovation based employment could be created directly in our villages using available spaces of institutions like Panchayats through a Hub-n-Spoke expansion of the Assagao and Verna CIBA centres, which presently see a higher utilization by non-Goans due to low awareness and the general Goan averseness to entrepreneurship. IT could be used to provide largescale virtual mentoring, daily guidance and other support services from the CIBA Hubs to such rural incubation centres across Goa. *This could be piloted in a couple Goan villages to validate the concept within a year and GITP is ready to actively support this initiative with a few already identified willing Panchayats if your government could enable the process. Kindly consider.* - Mr. Abhyankar disclosed that he has shared the architect’s drawings and awaiting feedback from GITP and other similar Goan groups about an optimal layout for the upcoming STPI (Software Technology Parks India) Incubation Centre at the Udhyog Bhavan, Panaji. [Sir, FYI since our meeting with you our GITP team has visited this site and shared a revamped layout for the centre along with other ideas and feedback based on our groups members’ knowledge of related best practices of the Indian IT industry. *Our proposed layout improves the seating capacity by 33% to 60 seats. We hope it helps DoIT and we would be glad to support other such initiatives in a similar manner.*] - With reference to our prior meeting with you on 01-Sep-2015, we reiterated the need to simplify/improve governmental processes of doing business in Goa which are presently highly cumbersome thereby suffocating smaller companies like Tech Startups. Goa is placed at a very lowly 19th position among all Indian states in terms of ease of doing business. *Mr. Abhyankar stated that his DoIT is keen to look at such pain points in the crucial government processes, simplify and automate these, and, make these available online for transparency. GITP commits its full support to such an initiative but would recommend that Goa DoIT considers reusing any such existing automation already done by other Indian states for cost effectiveness and efficiency.* We appreciate your concern and support in this regard through your referral to certain bureaucrats who could also make a real difference in overcoming such pain points. - Regarding our ProjectGEIT (Goans Empowered with IT) initiative being piloted in 3 Goan village schools this academic year: - We shared with you our key objectives of using IT to develop scientific thinking among children, making general subjects interesting through use of existing free online resources, and, bringing the latest technological exposure to our village children. - GEIT is a completely society driven initiative – by the people, for the people – with volunteers giving their time and resources to make it happen. We hope to take it to all Goa level in the next academic year. - We brought to your attention the sorry plight of Computer Labs in Goan schools with barely 1-2 working PCs out of the original government provided 10 PCs which have run out of warranty with no repair service available. Also most of these PCs have pirated Windows and Microsoft Office licences which your government might want to investigate. - And we explained to you how we have used a cost-effective micro-computer based solution called, Raspberry Pi2 (RPi2), to fix the dead CPUs in these schools and successfully conduct our 9-day Diwali2015 camp on MIT’s (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA) child-friendly SCRATCH programming platform. - As explained to you each RPi2 kits costs approximately Rs.4500/- and can completely replace the traditional bulky and delicate CPUs while reusing the existing LCD monitors, keyboards and mouse in the school Computer Labs. Also the RPi2 needs no air conditioning unlike the traditional CPUs and the Open Source software it uses is fully license free. *For the approximately 350 schools to which the Goa government had provided 10 PCs it would cost barely Rs.1.58 crores to replace all the dead CPUs with RPi2 kits and revive the nearly dead Computer Labs across Goa. This is a high returns, minimal investment your government could make in the upcoming state budget and GITP strongly recommends it. Kindly consider.* - We explained to you the chronic unreliability of the GBBN connectivity provided to the Goan village schools with it being frequently turned off at the local Panchayat resulting in high downtime at schools. Additionally from our own experience the GBBN Fibre Optic Cable (FOC) was cut, and hence school connectivity lost, 3 times within a week when we tried to conduct an Hour of Code (see www.code.org) program at each of our 3 GEIT schools in December 2015. *We look forward to an early intervention and resolution of this chronic issue with the local Panchayats as promised by Mr. Abhyankar.* - Additionally we also discussed about the extremely low value-add of our current Microsoft Office-centric Computers syllabus in schools oriented towards clerical rather than creative and intellectual work. It is a proven fact that today everybody learns such clerical tools (like MS Office) without formal training by using the extensive learning material and videos available on the internet. There is an *urgent need today to revamp our Computers syllabus for children to learn programming and its applied utility in creative space like graphics, animation, music, movie-making etc. *Using the RPi2 platform, its accompanying Open Source Ubuntu operating system and LibreOffice, the complete current Microsoft-centric Computers syllabus could be transposed to an equivalent (if not better) syllabus in a perpetually zero-cost, license-free mode thereby saving the Goa government significant expenditure. - We also brought to your attention a scheme that the Goa Ministry of Science and Technology had created in response to Project GEIT to fund Rs.50,000/- each for 10 Goan schools to restore their Computer Labs. However *since the ministry’s approval in October 2015 this scheme is stuck and awaiting disbursal. Kindly help expedite it.* - *Sir, under your leadership as also the Education Minister of Goa there is so much that could be done at minimal costs in light of our above experiences and recommendations to turn our Goan education system into one of the best in India. And GITP would be glad to collaborate with your Education dept. in this regard to leverage its group members’ national and global exposure and network to achieve the same. Kindly suggest the next steps.* - Regarding the ongoing controversy about the Reliance Jio towers we suggested maximizing shared mobile tower infrastructure among all the telcos, possibly in PPP mode, besides also a proactive facts-based awareness campaign via TV, radio, print and social media by your Information & Publicity dept. Subsequent to our meeting we have reached out to Reliance Jio seeking facts and information to be placed in the public domain to address prevailing concerns and misconceptions. Though we have received some information from them so far it is incomplete and not up to our expectations as a professional body. *Sir, we believe you should use your good offices to get these corporates to proactively come clear in public with facts and figures to bridge the huge trust deficit that today stands in the way of much-needed technology like 4G for true development and progress of Goans in Goa.* GITP appreciates your openness in our discussions during this meeting and the overall direction you have empowered your DoIT to take inorder to promote locally sustainable IT and related technology industries in Goa. GITP is glad to contribute in this endeavour and looks forward to its time-bound fruitful outcomes. Requesting all other meeting attendees marked on this mail to point out discrepancies if any in the minutes noted above. Thank you. Regards, Goa IT Professionals www.goaitpro.org Note: If you haven't registered yourself on Goa Skills Registry as yet, please do so at skills.goaitpro.org