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Is Big Brother peeking over that young shoulder?
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No more fudging the attendance register. No more goofing off without doing homework. Schools and colleges are wiring parents to their children's lives bit by byte, reports CHARUMATHI SUPRAJA
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Wired to the world as well as parents
IN THIS era of cyber-everything, there's hardly an office, gadget or relationship that can survive without computers. Networking computers across the elements is the cyber highway, where messages zoom along, connecting minds. Any surprise then that educational institutions in IT-City are harnessing these superfast messengers to reach parents and students? Launching websites is passé. Online applications, attendance updates and e-mail circulars are the order of the day and many colleges and schools are establishing e-communication with parents through the Internet and e-mail.
Shalini J. Krishnan, Director, Information Communication Technology (ICT), Indus International School, says: "The purpose of our student information system is to help all the stakeholders participate in the process of education. The system improves communications between all the people involved. Every parent is given a user ID and password through which they can access information about any aspect of their child's school life."
Not just details about assignments, health records and attendance, even the weekly plan is put up in each child's web space. "This especially helps the parents who are outside Bangalore. And even children take their assignments more seriously when they are aware that their parents have been updated on their school activities."
Don't the children feel policed? "No," says Shalini, "We counsel the parents that all this is for their information and not to put pressure on the children."
Not all schools in Bangalore have been able to invest in an online presence or send circulars through e-mail. Sandhya, who recently relocated here, says: "E-mail circulars are great because the paper circulars get crushed in the (children's school) backpack and we hardly know what's happening. When I was relocating from the U.S., I tried to find out about the schools through their websites but many were non-functional and not user-friendly."
Some institutions draw the line at machines stepping in where human communication is necessary. Says Fr. Ambrose Pinto, Principal, St. Joseph's College: "Human beings should deal with each other through human beings. We put up attendance lists and each student is given a staff mentor with whom they interact when there is any problem. Our focus is on personal relationships."
A staff member from Christ College says: "Through our website and student information facilities, parents get to know whether or not their teenagers are attending college. Assessment marks and term results are announced here and each parent gets the messages he wants, regularly."
But a student from the same college says: "Though we are given that user ID and password, some students don't give them to their parents. Or they change the password. And if it's acute attendance shortage, parents get to know even without computers. Now we hardly use this system though we were really excited about having it initially."
But Sunder Rajan, Principal, Jain College, has a different take on it: "The response to our online system has been very good. Each of our 4,800 students is given an identity in cyberspace."
Computers exercise great power on the urban mindset. For most working and computer-savvy parents, this new trend is one more step in their e-xistense.
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
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