The Hindu : Front Page : State poised to achieve total IT literacy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 10, 2007
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Front Page

State poised to achieve total IT literacy

Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Education Minister M.A. Baby said here on Sunday that Kerala was poised to become the first State to achieve total IT (information technology) literacy.

Inaugurating a project to provide high-speed broadband Internet connection to all high schools in the State, he said the IT and Education departments were working in tandem to improve academic standards in schools.

“The initial efforts to promote ICT (information and communication technology)-based education have been promising. Several schools have responded well to the IT@School initiative. We are trying to focus attention on schools where the infrastructure provided under the project is underutilised. Elected representatives will have to work closely with the schools to improve the facilities and ensure better utilisation.”

The Minister said the decision to equip high schools with broadband Internet connectivity would open up immense possibilities in the education sector.

Free software

The project was based on free software, he added.

Under the proposal, 2,800 high schools in the State will be provided with broadband connection by August 2008.

Director of Public Instruction M. Sivasankar said the IT@School initiative had helped to improve basic IT skills of schoolchildren and make them more competitive.

He said the government had responded to local-level demands to provide computer facilities in lower and upper primary schools also. “The pilot project is to be implemented in 38 schools soon,” he said.

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