Thank You, Bombay High Court
Context :
Consider dedicated edu channel, radio programmes for students amid pandemic: Bombay HC to Centre
( Indian Express / 02 Aug 2021 )
Extract :
Ø THE BOMBAY High Court told Monday the Centre, through the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, to consider setting up a dedicated television channel and radio programmes so that students, including specially abled children, particularly in rural areas, do not suffer due to lack of internet connectivity during the pandemic.
Ø The court pointed out that there were several TV channels for entertainment and movies and asked the I&B Ministry why it couldn’t consider a dedicated education channel for students, including hearing and visually impaired pupils.
Ø “Why cannot there be full-fledged devoted channels for education, not only for specially abled students but for those who have suffered? We have to go back to old technology now as the network issue will continue,” the bench said. It sought the central government’s response on the matter by August 5.
Ø The court suggested that the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) counsel Rui Rodrigues get in touch with the Ministry officials for considering a dedicated education channel for all students during the pandemic and also asked the Centre and the state governments to explore the option of imparting education through Doordarshan and Akashvani.
Ø “We have Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha TV channels. In future, the judiciary may also live stream hearings. Why cannot we have a channel for education? There are hundreds of channels for movies and entertainment, not one for education. We cannot have only colleges, schools and no academics. People in rural areas might not have funds to buy smartphones, but they need to get access to education, especially during a pandemic,” the bench said.
My Take :
Ø Digitized India ?.............................
Extract :
Ø 27 crore ( 270 million ) students are unable to attend classes due to lockdown
Ø 20 crore ( 200 million ) Indian households have TV sets
Ø Hence, all Indian States should follow the example set by Maharashtra and launch TV channels for each
SUBJECT taught at each STANDARD class
Ø Disadvantage of TV Channel-based “ lectures “ is that these are one-way monologues.
There is no “ dialogue “ between teacher and students ( No questions / answers – ensuring that TV watching students understood the subject being
taught )
Ø This is why ZOOM / GOOGLE MEET / JIO-MEET are preferred ( since interactive )
Ø But, to use these platforms ( for online education purpose ) require :
# Internet-enabled device ( a Computer / Tablet / Big Smart phone )
# Internet connection ( Broadband Cable / Fibre or Wi-Fi )
[ A ] …..How can we make available device ( FREE or at nominal cost ) ?
Fortunately , Shri Prakash Javdekarji has taken following timely initiative :
HRD seeks Rs 60,900 crore for giving laptops to college students
Extract :
The Union Human Resource Development ministry…… plans to launch a
Rs 60,900 crore scheme to provide laptops/devices to over 4 crore college students
over the next five years, to bridge the digital divide. [ 80 lakh / year ]
The plan for laptops comes at a time when the education system is faced with the
challenge of running nearly an entire academic session in online mode due to Covid-
19 and is grappling with the reality of a huge chunk of students being left out due to
the lack of access to computers and internet.
The higher education department has proposed to launch from 2021-22 a scheme for
‘ Making Devices Available ’ to 40% of students in higher education, estimated to be
4.06 crore in five years
The ministry proposes to start with distributing laptops / tablets
each to 1.5 crore students in 2021-22 at a cost of Rs 22,500 crore
Of this, Rs 13,500 crore is expected to be borne by the Centre and the remaining Rs
9,000 crore would be the states’ share
------------------------------
I urge Shri Prakash Javdekarji ( HRD Minister ) to consider my following proposal as a much
cheaper alternative to the above-mentioned plan :
Let Central Government float a global tender for pre-owned desktops ( in working condition and less than 5 years old ) for 100 million units ( 10 crore ).
I think we could get for Rs 2500 each ( at total cost of Rs 25,000 crore ).
Deliveries could be spread over 24 months
[ B ]……How to provide FREE internet connections to ALL households ?
Government may not be in a position to provide a FREE connection – at least till our economy is fully back on the track
And no one can expect the Private Sector companies to provide FREE connections
I urge the government to evaluate and urgently implement, one of the following options :
In my following blog / email,
( 08 April 2018 / https://myblogepage.
I reported :
“ The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has mooted a concept of open architecture-based public Wi-Fi grid to bring down the cost of internet by 90 per cent.
By doing so, it will allow small entrepreneurs such as tea stalls, grocery shops and vendors to set up and maintain access points.
Device manufacturers, payment companies, ISPs / telcos and consumer internet companies can provide the remaining pieces to set up public data offices (PDOs), it said on Thursday “
==============================
With regards,
Hemen parekh / hcp@RecruitGuru.com / 11 Aug 2021
No comments:
Post a Comment