Context :
Digital divide: 32% of Indian schools have functional
computers, shows UDISE..BL. 13 Jan 2025
Extract :
Digitisation
has been steadily advancing in India; however, most schools still lack basic
infrastructure.
According
to the newly released UDISE 2023-24 report, only
32.4 per cent of India’s 14.7 lakh schools have access to functional computers. Furthermore, only 24.4 per cent of schools have
smart classrooms, and 24.2
per cent rely on mobile phones for teaching purposes.
The data
highlights a significant disparity between private and government schools in
terms of digital infrastructure.
Of the 3.3 lakh private unaided schools,
Ø 60 per cent are equipped with desktop computers,
Ø 40.8 per cent with laptops or notebooks and
Ø 34.6 per cent have smart classrooms.
In
contrast, of the 10.1
lakh government
schools
Ø only 21.4 per cent have desktops,
Ø 22.2 per cent have tablets, and
Ø 21.2 per cent have smart classrooms.
Availability
of functional computer and internet facilities has also grown over the past
five years, though only in about
half of the schools in India.
Functional
computer increased from 37.1 per cent in 2019-20 to 50.9 per cent in 2023-24, while internet access saw a dramatic rise from 22.3 per cent to
53.9 per cent.
Pradnya Sheth, ICT Head at The Somaiya School, cited
several reasons for the lack of digital infrastructure in schools. These
include budgetary constraints, frequent
power cuts, slow internet speeds, inadequate basic infrastructure, and the
absence of sustained digital resources. “Many schools still rely on traditional
teaching methods, and there is resistance to change due
to a lack of professional development for educators,” Sheth added.
Aishwarya Rao, Director at The Vivekalaya Group of Institutions, noted, “Much of the government and aided schools don’t have
adequate budgeting or training of faculty. There is also a lack of physical infrastructure to help support digital progress. It requires support on the front of education investment and
revamping of campuses. What might help is an association with connectivity
providers and outsourcing the computer labs in government schools.”
My Take :
( A ) Background
:
Ø At the current rate of improvement, it might still
take , at least , another 10 years to provide desktop computers to the
rest of the schools ( may be 7 lakh schools ).
Ø Assuming that each school needs ( say ) just 100
computers , this works out to approx.. 700 lakh ( 7
crore ) desktop computers
Ø If each computer costs ( say ) Rs 50,000 , this would
require a Capital Outlay of Rs 350,000 crore ! Or , Rs 35,000 crore per year !
Ø As against this predicament , all of our 96 lakh teachers ( of our
14.7 lakh schools ) , have Smart Phones
Ø Ditto with our 8 crore Students of 9th to
12th standards ( out of our total student strength of 28 crore ). All of these 8
crore ( higher secondary ) students , have Smart Phones
( B ) My
Suggestion
Ø Just allow all
students ( class 9 – 12 ) to bring their Mobiles into classrooms
Ø Stop acting like King Canute ( telling the tide to
stop rolling in ). Or, like an Ostrich, hope that the incoming sand storm will just go
away, by hiding the head under the sand !
Ø When 50 years ago , calculators came into existence, our
Educators would not allow these either !
Ø Please do not wait till 2030 , by which time , students
will replace their Mobiles with light weight and smart looking “ AR – VR – AI powered “
Eye Glasses
( C ) How will allowing
Students to bring Mobiles
in classrooms, help ?
Ø By accessing www.My-Teacher.in , on their mobiles ,
teachers would be able to able to generate “ Monthly – Quarterly – Annual “
EXAM PAPERS ( MCQ ), from
their Mobiles, and get the
students ( who are already seated in the Classrooms-Exam Halls ), to take ONLINE tests on their Mobiles !
Ø By accessing www.My-Teacher.in on their Mobiles,
students will take these Exams and instantly get to know the marks obtained !
Ø For ( someday later ) appearing in COMPETITIVE EXAMS (
NEET – JEE – CET ), students can “ Practice ( 24 x 365 ) “ by generating and
taking MOCK TESTS, on their mobiles ( courtesy : www.My-Teacher.in )
Dear Teachers – Principals :
Your options are ,
Ø Wait till it is too late for your students to catch up
with the students of the PRO-ACTIVE / REFORMS – ORIENTED / RESOURCE-RICH ,
schools
OR ,
Ø Allow students to bring their Mobiles into classrooms
Beware the Ides of
March
With regards,
Hemen Parekh
www.My-Teacher.in / 16
Jan 2025
============================
Related Readings :
Maha
plan : Upgrade 4860 govt schools to CM Shri institutes
MUHS
chalks out plan to prevent paper leaks
CC :
Shri Harshit Agarwal [ Joint
Director-Exams / harshit.agarwal@nta.ac.in ]
Col. B Vijay Kumar [ Director – Exams / Vijay.kumar@nta.ac.in ]
Pradeep Singh Kharola [
Director General – NTA / ps.kharola@nic.in ]
Sandip
Kumar Mishra
Archana
Shukla……………… Archanashukla.edu@gov.in / Shukla.archana20@mospi.gov.in
Amit
Kumar…………………….. amit.k89@gov.in
Shivani Naik
Subodh Kumar
Singh……….. dgoffice@nta.ac.in
DR.
Sadhana Parashar………. sp@nta.ac.in
Binod
Kumar Sahu……………. binod@nta.ac.in
Varun
Bhardwaj……………….. varun.bhardwaj@nta.ac.in
Rajesh
Kumar…………………… rajesh.kumar@nta.ac.in
Moushumi
Sarkar…………….. moushmi@nta.ac.in
Bhuwan
Chandra………………..bhuwan@nta.ac.in
Sunita
Koundal…………………. sunita@nta.ac.in
DR.
Sharmila Devi………………sharmila@nta.ac.in
DR.
Anita Seth…………………. anita.seth@nta.ac.in
Vandana
Luthra……………….. vandana@nta.ac.in
Commander
Vidyasagar Mehta vidyasagar.mehta@nta.ac.in
Ankur
Verma…………………….. ankur@nta.ac.in
Rajesh Kumar
Yadav………….. rajesh.yadav@nta.ac.in
Shuchi Rai
..........................shuchi.rai@nta.ac.in
GENERAL :
dhc.spa@nta.ac.in
neet@nta.nic.in
genadmin@nta.ac.in
NTA Steering Committee
Dr K Radhakrishnan ………………………………… radhakr272@gmail.com
Prof Bhaskar Ramamurthy………………………. bhaskar@ee.iitm.ac.in
Prof Aditya Mittal
……………………………….. amittal@bioschool.iitd.ac.in
S K Barnwal ………………………………………….. ashe-mhrd@gov.in
