The Hindu : Karnataka News : Outsourcing of computer education in schools in State fails

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Wednesday, Sep 30, 2009
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Karnataka

Karnataka

Outsourcing of computer education in schools in State fails

Deepa Kurup

Study says BOOT model in government high schools is unsuccessful

BOOT model does not help build in-house capacities
In contrast, Kerala Government’s IT@schools seems to be working well

— Photo: K. Murali Kumar

Needs a re-look: Government has to bring in an efficient model of computer education in schools.

BANGALORE: Outsourcing has indeed worked wonders for the Information Technology sector in Karnataka. But when applied to State-sponsored education programmes it has spelt disaster. An academic study conducted by Bangalore-based non-governmental organisation IT for Change found that the Karnataka Government’s Mahiti Sindhu programme, which took computer education to 1,000 schools, has been largely unsuccessful due to its outsourcing-based model.

The programme, which outsourced the setting up and teaching process to private vendors, has not benefited the overall school system.

The larger goal of establishing IT-enabled education in government schools has been abandoned, the report said. Further, the use of proprietary software has limited the scope of IT-enabled education in the schools.

Though Mahiti Sindhu has given way to the Central government’s ICT@schools (Information and Communication Technology) programme, the first and second phases of the latter only mimicked Mahiti Sindhu, thus carrying forward its “flawed practices”.

With the third phase of ICT@schools currently being finalised, it is critical that the Government turn to a deeper and more sustainable model, said Gurumurthy Kasinathan, co-author of this study, which is part of the organisation’s ongoing research on “Information Societies for the South”. Comparing the BOOT (Build, own, operate and transfer) model adopted by Karnataka’s ICT@schools to the integrated approach of the Kerala Government’s IT@schools (for classes VIII to X) revealed a study in contrasts.

In Kerala, the accent was on developing systemic in-house capabilities anchored around the role of schoolteachers, said the report.

“In the BOOT model, funds are spent on vendor payments instead of building in-house capacities, and the system is unable to sustain the programme beyond the BOOT period. Outsourcing seems to build more-or-less permanent dependencies of the public education system on private players,” the report said.

Mr. Kasinathan also said that vendor-deputed trainers were poorly paid — salaries ranged between Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 4,000 a month — and thus contributed little in terms of quality or expertise to the job.

The report found that vendors, who designed content and process, were in the business of selling computer hardware/software or general computer training, and not equipped to teach education-specific tools.

High school teachers here, unlike their counterparts in Kerala, were not trained to apply computer skills to regular lessons despite having computers in their schools. A group of teachers were trained to be master trainers and impart skills to teachers State-wide through training camps, followed up by annual training camps.

The use of proprietary software in Mahiti Sindhu was another key criticism cited in the report. While ICT@schools addressed this concern, to an extent, by allowing training in proprietary software Microsoft and GNU/Linux-based Free Software, the study found that the Free Software remained untouched in most schools. “On proprietary software, students were simply taught to create Word documents or make power point presentations at best,” said Mr. Kasinathan.

Free Software or GNU/Linux tools, on the other hand, come bundled with several free educational tools to help teach Mathematics, Science or Social Studies.

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