The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Dewang Mehta Award for Sugata Mitra

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 13, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Dewang Mehta Award for Sugata Mitra

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, APRIL 12. The Dewang Mehta Award for Innovation in Information Technology, instituted by the Department of Information Technology, Government of India, has been conferred on the NIIT Chief Scientist, Sugata Mitra, for his discovery of the pedagogy, science and technology of minimally invasive education.

The award is presented to honour individuals in technology-related sectors for their innovative work. In 1999 Dr. Mitra conducted an experiment by placing a computer in a slum so that the children there could learn to use computers without any supervision. This experiment was then conducted on a large scale across India and Cambodia.

In 2001, the World Bank, through its affiliate International Finance Corporation, formed a joint venture with the NIIT, Hole-in-the-Wall Education Ltd., to take the research project to over 30 locations in nine Indian states, including Karnataka. In Karnataka, the "hole-in-the-wall" kiosks are located at Nagamangala and K. Honnalagere village in Mandya district, D. Salhundi village in Mysore district and Melekote village in Bangalore district.

Accepting the award, Dr. Mitra said the innovative method of learning suggests that children, irrespective of their social, ethnic or educational identity, learn to use computers themselves thereby bridging the much-discussed digital divide.

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