Kavita Sahay / Ramesh Karra / Vandana
Lulla / Suma Das / Swati Popat
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Dear Friends :
I felt happy to read your comments in Times of India / 09
April ( Many Schools replacing textbooks with tablets )
In this regard , you may wish to read my following blog , as
also ,
with regards,
( Click for
my profile )
www.hemenparekh.in > Blogs
Marol
, Mumbai , India
(
M ) +91 - 98,67,55,08,08
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Sunday, 3 April 2016
A recent survey of 4569
students in Mumbai found :
* 31 % of those
surveyed, carried schoolbags weighing more than the prescribed limit ( not more
than 10% of child's own weight )
This issue has so much
agitated everyone that even the Mumbai High Court keeps asking the Government :
" What are you doing
about this ? How and when , do you expect to solve this problem ? "
A news report in Times of
India ( 02 April , 2016 ) quotes Shri B B Chavan , Deputy Director of Education
, as follows :
" Schools can't do
much if parents continue to send fancy bags, heavy tiffin boxes and water
bottles and tuition books "
Sure , parents can help
reduce their child's burden
But , so
can progressive / forward thinking / innovative schools !
Immediate answer that comes to
mind is : Use of Internet
I believe , HRD Ministry has
launched a project under which , all text books will get uploaded on its web
site , which any student can access freely , at any time , on his / her tablet
Simultaneously , in the last
2 / 3 years , dozens of portals have come up , which provide educational
content of all kinds ( text books / quizzes / test papers / assessments etc ) ,
online , for a reasonable annual subscription
But the problem is :
* Very few schools have a Wi-Fi hot spot
I suppose , it will take a
few years before all schools get internet connection
Interim solution :
* Schools to make
available to students ( of each standard ) , tablets
having on-board storage memory of 64 GB ( no need for internet ! )
* Each tablet to
be pre-loaded with scanned copies of text books
* Icons on home
page to show the " Subject Name " of text book
* Tablets to be
distributed at the beginning of each academic session
* Students to be allowed
to carry the tablets home and use for homework
* Students to
return the tablets at the end of each session
* Tablets can be
given to the next batch of students for reuse
* Students should
have option to " pay and buy " the tablet , in which case
School Administration will load it with required text books, free of
charge
Alternatively, students can buy their choice of tablet from market
* It will be the
responsibility of school management to ensure that the
all
tablets are always pre-loaded with the " Prescribed " text
books
When
schools are charging annual school-fees of Rs 30,000 / - to Rs 100,000 /- ,
surely they can afford to invest in tablets costing Rs 10,000/- !
Of course , poor children ,
attending Municipal Schools will benefit most since they cannot afford to buy
own tablets or pay high fees
And since there is no
internet access from these tablets , school managements do not have to worry
about students accessing " In-appropriate Content " and waste their
time on Facebook / Youtube etc !
I am sure, some schools here
and many schools abroad , have already implemented this idea , which must have
occurred to millions, earlier !
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www.hemenparekh.in / blogs
04 April 2016
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