Project: Educating unprivileged children in OrissaProposed by: Sravan PrathyObjectiveThe project objective is to increase the rate of computer literacy in the State of Orissa, India by establishing “Center of Computer Excellence” in primary schools.
IntroductionEducation is the like building material for the society. The Indian government has realized this and introduced many central and state level programs to improve the infrastructure for providing better education to our citizens. The infrastructure and resources are being built rapidly to meet the needs. Funding have been relocated to create new schools and to recruit new teachers. From some googling on the internet, one can confidently say that numerous parties/NGOs are working hand in hand to help the government for elevating the literacy level in India. Every year the percentage drop outs from the primary and secondary school is improving and percent of children of the age 5-12 enrolled in the school are also improving. A good sign!
Everybody reading this abstract will have a fair idea about computers. The world is changing into Web2.0 now and every aspect of business is being converted on-line these days. With the increase in computer dependency, the new schools should ensure that today’s children will get enough education in computers for meeting tomorrow’s needs. But, in general very few schools which are set up by the federal and state government have a computer facility.
Why Orissa:At current prices, Orissa's per capita income for 2003 was Rs 12,388 against the all-India average of Rs 23,359. In percentage terms, Orissa's poverty rate for 1999-2000 was the highest among all States at 47.15 per cent. (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/09/12/stories/2006091201311100.htm).
According to the 2001 census Orissa is the 10th most illiterate state in India. The literacy level is changing at a very high rate of 14.5 % which is 6th highest rate in India. Definitely there is mis balance here. The number of new schools put up in Orissa is in peak at this current time. Being one of the most neglected states in India, it is always good to have a high rate of new establishments for educating the children. At the same time, if enough resources are not provided to ensure that the schools are set up with correct guide lines, the efforts put in establishing new schools will be partially effective. Most of the schools does not have a computer facilities to meet the increasing needs of society. Recently, the State Government of Orissa has started a scheme “Adopt a School (http://www.orissasociety.org/NEW/education_adoptschool.htm) for primary schools under which computers are provided. Till now, Non Resident Indians have only adopted 50 schools out of 55,000 primary schools in the State of Orissa. ( Source: Government of Orissa, Review of annual plan 2004-2005) There is definitely a scope to improve the computer education in Orissa. Realizing the importance of computer education and at the same time realizing that the rate of new students enrolling in the schools are at the peak, this is the right time to go there and help them to establish a computer facility in primary schools in Orissa.
Implementation:· Choose the right school to establish a computer facility
· Start the project small with just one school to ensure high success rate, later on, the project can be expanded to other schools or may be to other states
· Choose a local representative to help executing the project ( Volunteers can be found through common contacts)
· Help the school to recruit a teacher for teaching in basic computers
· Establish a course outline for primary school students
Cost and TimelineEach second hand computers will cost approximately Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 8,000. Five computers can be initially bought to establish a center at a chosen school. The teacher annual monthly salary will cost approximately Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 10,000 based on his experience. With a commission to the local representative the total project cost for the first year to establish a center of computer excellence at a chosen school will be around Rs. 1.2 lakh to Rs 1.8 lakhs, provided that the school will provide a space to put up the computer facility. It is anticipated that the project to establish a computer facility in one school would not take more then 4 months. Once the center of computer excellence is established, the challenge is to maintain it and ensure that it functions properly by meeting all the needs of the school. The local representative can over see the operations.
Benefits * Approximately 1000 primary level school children (target) can be computer literate with in one year of implementation of this project
* Easier to get started, as very minimal resources is needed to maintain the facility, once the computer facility is established in the school. The facility can be handed over in safe hands of the school management. Some intervention from our end might be needed in the later time to ensure that the facility is meeting the necessary needs
* The unique strength point of the project is higher returns with relatively less cost and time.
* Most importantly we will be driving the society in the right direction
