By- Smriti Joinwal
India boasts of one of the largest school systems in the world with 13,623,24 elementary schools (DISE 2011) and 19, 5000 secondary and higher secondary sections in 2009-10. The country has made tremendous efforts in achieving 100% literacy rate but unfortunately there has been no paradigm shift. Something is surely amiss. We need to find out what went wrong and help tackle the issue, because somewhere down the line it will surely affect our GDP. So let me put forward a solution to this unending problem.
I feel that technology is the way forward if we want to ensure education for everyone. Considering the population in India, it is very difficult to create physical infrastructure for all. Technology is a more feasible option for such information propagation. If there is one computer and one projector screen, it can educate hundreds of people at different places in a single instance. The core idea is to make education within reach for all and I think this is what is lacking right now. The situation is still better in urban areas as compared to the rural areas. At least urban areas have physical infrastructure in place. Technology gives the freedom wherein one does not need to build huge classrooms as such to impart education to all.
People lack basic literacy, let alone digital literacy ,so just distributing laptops won’t serve the purpose. It is important for the curriculum to be framed in a technology-friendly way so that gradually students are able to exploit the opportunity. It is equally required to train the teachers to effectively use technology for learning. Also we must understand that our learning via technology should not be internet-dependent as internet access in our country is not very high. Moreover, there is lack of electricity in the villages. Thus what is required at the moment is a step-wise plan of action with technology being a key determinant at every stage. A well thought out educational module that is apt for student’s needs, when information propagation through technology can play a huge role in transforming the educational road map of the country.
