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India says one laptop per child project is 'pedagogically suspect'
NEW DELHI - India has rejected the 'One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Scheme' as "pedagogically suspect." The HRD Ministry felt that the money that was to have been spent on the project would be better utilized in making secondary education universal in the country.
"The case for giving a computer to every single is pedagogically suspect. It may actually be detrimental to the growth of creative and analytical abilities of the child", Education Secretary Sudeep Banerjee informed the Planning Commission in a letter. The Hindu reports that the Planning Commission was all set to implement the idea. "We cannot visualize a situation for decades when we can go beyond the pilot stage. We need classrooms and teachers more urgently than fancy tools," the letter added.
Mr Banerjee said that after consulting with several experts, he felt the idea would not work. "Our considered view, therefore, is that there is no case for further engaging with this idea within this Ministry." he added. "If the Planning Commission has the kind of money that would be required for this scheme, it would be appropriate to utilize it for 'Universalisation of Secondary Education' for which, a concept paper has been lying with the Planning Commission for approval since November 2005."
The One Laptop Per Child is the baby of Nicholas Negroponte, who is also the chairman of the initiative. The idea is to develop $100 laptop that can be easily available to children in developing countries. However the idea has met with a cool reception. Microsoft chairman Bill gates was among its critics.
India was though to be the ideal country to adopt the project, but it now appears to be shelved. Mr Banerjee explained the decision by referring to N K Sinha, a Joint Secretary in the Ministry, who attended the MIT presentation, "We do not think that the idea of Prof Negroponte is mature enough to be taken seriously at this stage and no major country is presently following this. Even inside America, there is no much enthusiasm about this," he said.
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Written
by :
Tabitha Ratliff | Published on :
10:03:00
EST
Thu, 27 Jul 2006 |
Something
to say »
» Plan your priorities
Sudeep Banerjee's views merit close study. The idea of owning a laptop would be every child’s dream, but before that, it is important the State should provide quality universal secondary education. India’s emergence as a knowledge pool on the world stage can also be traced to the strong foundation at the secondary education level, made possible by committed teachers and institutions. Utilize the finite resources to strengthen, and spread these success stories to every nook and corner, so that each child has access to similar quality education. Provide every teacher affordable teaching tools and training, for them to transform the landscape into one, giant knowledge society.
Commented by ( Subba ) on 17:52:56 EST Sat, 29 Jul 2006
» Supply/Demand Scrambled Egg
Not the first time political views tank a tech project. India might be better off with digital paper with embeded Wifi when ever that becomes consumer friendly reality.
To unscramble this egg requires a believable profit incentive to bring backers on board. Even money losers like game consoles survive by selling software game titles--something that drives consumers demand to keep buying hardware.
Commented by ( ) on 14:07:10 EST Thu, 27 Jul 2006
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