BANGALORE: Over three lakh students of 1,000 government high schools across the State learnt the basics of computer education, thanks to a unique project called "Mahiti Sindhu." Launched in 2001, the five-year project will conclude next year. Even as efforts are on to give a new life to the project with an extension, the computer-savvy students who passed out of these schools are clearly on their own.

To provide a direction to these students and help them get jobs, the Foundation of Advancement of Education and Research (FAER) proposes to set up rural employment centres, at least one in every district to start with. "Some companies have also evinced interest in recruiting these students after they pass 10th standard and absorbing them after a three to four month training," FAER president D.K. Subramanian told The Hindu .

The Department of State Education Research and Training (DSERT) has District Institutes of Education and Training (DIET) in almost all districts. Dr. Subramanian said these institutes could be used as placement centres.

Mahiti Sindhu

The State Government evolved the Rs. 205-crore Mahiti Sindhu project to address the computer education needs of high school students. To implement the programme, the Government tied up with NIIT, Educomp Datamatics, and Aptech. NIIT was to run the programme in 700 high schools while Aptech and Educomp Datamatics were asked to implement the project in 250 and 50 high schools, respectively. The 1,000 high schools were divided into three categories. Category A (schools with a strength of up to 150 students) had 261 schools, Category B (institutions with up to 250 students) had 273 schools and Category C (schools with over 250 students) had the maximum of 466 institutions. One server and five computers were installed in Category A schools, a server and nine computers in Category B schools and one server and 14 computers were set up in Category C schools.

Benefits

An advisor to Mahiti Sindhu, Dr. Subramanian said the programme helped improve attendance in the 1,000 schools from 30 and 50 per cent to 80 to 90 per cent. "Enrolment went up by about 20 to 30 per cent. Most students picked up fundamental computer skills. Even the SSLC pass percentage in these schools went up from 50 per cent last year to 62 per cent this year."

Another key area of improvement was in the English vocabulary of the students.

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