Technology

Enabled
Education
in Indian
Schools: 2010

Supported by:
 TRANSFORMING EDUCATION
THROUGH TECHNOLOGY
w w w. t e c h a t e d u . c o m

Tech@Edu will provide an online platform for

authoritative research, credible journalism, quality
user generated content and articles, features,
newsletters of high quality content in the technology
in education space. It will be dedicated to informing
and educating senior education administrators,
bureaucrats, students and parents about the latest
advances, issues and best practices in the use of
technology in education.
Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .........................................................................3

INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................5

GOVERNMENT ENCOURAGEMENT OF TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION ...10

ICT Initiatives by Central and State Governments ...............................12

VOICE OF THE STUDENTS ...................................................................13

Adoption and Usage of Technology ...................................................14
Demand for Technology in Education .................................................17
Availability of Technology in Education ..............................................20

VOICE OF THE TEACHERS ...................................................................24

Familiarity with Technology .................................................................25
Usage of Technology ...........................................................................28
Perception of TiE ................................................................................29

VOICE OF THE SCHOOLS .....................................................................30

POLICY MAKER'S POINT OF VIEW .......................................................36

CASE STUDY: IT@School .....................................................................39

CASE STUDY: Live@edu ......................................................................41

WAY FORWARD ..................................................................................44

METHODOLOGY .................................................................................46

ABOUT THE AUTHORS ........................................................................47

ABOUT WEBCHUTNEY’S dotGOV DIVISION

Executive Summary
The Indian school education space is witnessing a technology revolution
driven by strong sustained efforts of government and private players.
Webchutney's report “Technology Enabled Education in Indian Schools:
2010” analyses the three stakeholders – students, teachers and school
administrations in their usage, perception and attitudes towards ICT in
school education. The survey was carried out across 5 states covering
Kendriya Vidyalayas, private and government schools.
The penetration of ICT in education depends on the availability of
technological infrastructure in schools. Government guidelines and
mandates have proved pivotal in administering the ICT progress in KVs.
However, lack of guidelines and mandates in case of state government
schools and private schools diminish their usage in technology space.
A startling number of principals supported the positive role of TiE in pupil's
learning curve and school education. Other than computer science, a
strong demand for TiE was observed in subjects such as science and
mathematics. The study indicated that a large number of schools are
planning to spend on the technology procurement but their budgets
remain diminutive and skewed towards building basic technology
infrastructure.
A strong and positive perception towards TiE prevails amongst teachers. A
significant percentage of teachers are using technology for education
beside using it for e-mail and accessing online services while the usage
trend differs in urban and sub-urban areas and with the type of school
administration. TiE training was found as the weak-link in grooming
teachers for using technology in education. The training is unable to play a
role due to less training being conducted and majority of it being low on
duration.
Videos and power point presentations formats are most popular amongst
teachers as a medium of e-learning owing to the ease of operation. The
usage of e-learning content is restricted to audio/visual rooms and for
special project/class purpose.

3
 An impressive number of students are increasingly using technology to
enhance their learning. Infrastructure at school is proving to be an
important platform in exposing students to technology and serves as a
major point of technology consumption besides home and cybercafé. The
technology usage is primarily centered towards education, e-mail and social
websites. TiE usage is primarily computer science centric, though KVs are
implementing TiE in other subjects too. E-content is slowly carving its place
in education and casting a positive perception on students.
A high propensity to pay for supplementary learning and positive
perception of schools, teachers and students are playing a pivotal role in
the growth of e-learning content in the Indian education system.
Schools in sub-urban areas are following the trend of using ICT and
witnessing an increasing demand of infrastructure, training and latest
technology. However, schools in urban areas still lead the initiatives and
carve the way ahead for the nation to integrate ICT in education to the
highest level possible.
Our report introduces the topic with an overview of the education industry
and the goverment's efforts in promoting usage of ICT in education. The
report concludes by identifying key action points where the government in
concert with industry can move to quickly address specific demand areas in
the technology enabled education value chain.

4
*TiE: Technology in Education
Introduction
 India: The impending explosion
in demand for education
Education has always been revered in India from the days of the early
civilizations which saw the rise of globally acclaimed centres of learning at
Nalanda and Taxila, to the modern knowledge society where education
opens doors to opportunity. Poised as the country with one of the largest
youth populations in human history, the importance of and demand for
education is one of the greatest challenges facing policy makers in the
country today.

India Population Projection in billion

The country's “demographic
dividend” of over half the
1.3% YoY population being below the age
1.25
of 25 and having the potential of
1.2 becoming the growth engine of
1.17
our knowledge economy, can
also become a demographic
disaster if the educational system
2010 2012 2015
does not deliver the skills they
will need in an information age.

India, the second most populated Youth Population

country after China, is also the Under 14 Years of Age
country with the highest youth
population (less than 14 Years) 30%
forming 30% of the total 25%
population. 19%
14%
This puts India in a unique situation
of having the greatest strain on it's
academic system over the next
6 twenty years. Brazil Russia India China
With respect to other BRIC nations, India is at the bottom of the table with
only 10.7% of the total government expenditure being allocated to
education. A meagre 3.2% share of the GDP is being spent on education by
India, being slightly higher than that of China i.e. 1.9% but lower than
Brazil and Russia spending 5% and 3.9% of their GDP on the same
respectively.
India’s public spending per student on higher education is the least
amongst developing and developed countries. Due to lower public
spending, the private spending per student has gone higher.
In the case of primary education as well, India is at the bottom of the pile
of public spending per student, being only a notch higher than China.

Public Expenditure on Education

16.2%
12.9% 13%
10.7%

5%
3.9% 3.2% 1.9%

Brazil Russia India China

%of GDP
% of Total Government Expenditure

Even though India’s aggregate expenditure on

education has been increasing YoY, the rate of increase
isn’t at pace with increasing budgetary expenditure,
GDP growth or inflation.

7
 Public expenditure on secondary and primary education at 43% and 37%
respectively, is significantly higher than the amount being spent on tertiary
education which is only 20% of the total expenditure.
It is observed that a very
small share of the students Public Expenditure Distribution
who have received primary on Education Level
and secondary education
receive tertiary education.
Tertiary
This implies that a large 20%
population in the age group 37%
Primary
of 15-24 years is being
deprived of professional skill
sets. This will result in a weak 43%
workforce which will become Secondary
an obstacle in the growth of
the economy.

In 2007, the gross enrolment ratio for boys in primary schools was 110 %
and approximately 106 % for girls. As a whole the GER was around 108 %.
Practically, this high enrolment ratio does not reflect in the final pass out
from class V, because the drop-out rate was as high as 44 % in the same
year. A similar kind of pattern was seen in the GER of tertiary education.
Higher education plays a key role in the development of various sectors of
the economy, by providing skilled manpower. The status of university
education in India is rather unsatisfactory. In view of the demand for highly
qualified personnel in the
industry and service sector, the
Student Enrolment Ratio GER of the cohort group 18 to
24 years is at around 12 %
108%
which is much lower than the
BRIC countries.
53%
Enrolment ratios vary across
12% Indian states, with the southern
and western states faring better
Primary Secondary Tertiary than their eastern and northern
8 counterparts.
India has the highest pupil-teacher ratio amongst the BRIC countries and
more than the sum of China and Russia put together.
For primary education the ratio is highest in India amongst BRIC nations, as
for every forty students there is one teacher while the ratio is as low as 17
and 20 for Russia and China respectively.
The pupil teacher ratio for secondary education is slightly lower than the
ratio in primary education. However, with a ratio of 32, it is much higher
than the ratio in Brazil and China which stands equal at 19 for both the
countries.
Private enrolment of the total enrolment is highest in India for secondary
education with 42 per cent of the students studying in secondary classes
belonging to private schools.
States in northern India have the highest pupil teacher ratio with an
average of 46 while states in eastern India have the lowest pupil teacher
ratio with an average of 19.

Student - Teacher Ratio

40

24
17 18

Brazil Russia India China

9
Government’s
increasing
role in supporting
ICT in education
Government Encouragement
of Technology in Education
In recent years, the Government of India and various State governments
have taken commendable steps toward encouraging the use of ICT in
education through its different projects. This is apparent from the
increment in the budget allocated to school education and “ICT in school”
project.
In its latest attempt to boost ICT in education, the Cabinet Committee on
Economic Affairs approved a revised scheme of INR 6,929 crore to enable
1.08 lakh government and government aided schools with ICT.
The revised scheme aims for the following:
1. Training more than 10 lakh teachers in using ICT-based tools for
education.
2. Development and dissemination of e-content in regional languages to
enhance the comprehension levels of children in various subjects.
3. Instituting awards for teachers and schools for encouraging use of ICT
in the teaching learning process.
With the help of its earlier scheme on ICT, the government has been pivotal
in equipping 53,000 schools with the use of ICT in education.

School Education Budget (GOI) ICT in School Budget (GOI)

in Rs. Billion in Rs. Million

2500
222
171
125 670
500

FY 06 FY 07 FY 08
FY 06 FY 07 FY 08

11
 ICT Initiatives by Central and
State Governments
The central government and various state governments have been
initiating projects to leverage ICT in the Indian education system. The
central government has been providing funds to state governments for
building infrastructure in respective states. Majority of the direct central
government initiatives are focussed on content building for secondary and
higher education with NPTEL being one of the most successful examples
of such initiative.
Large private companies such
as Microsoft, Intel, Cisco and
IBM are working in tandem
with state governments to
ICT Project encourage ICT in education

School Computer
Education Program Aarohi

GRACE

HeadStart

Project Sharda Rajiv Gandhi Computer

Literacy Program

Computer for School Bridges to the Future

Content Driven Projects Initiated

GramJyoti by Central Government
NPTEL
Skoool
Sakshat
National Science Digital Library
IT @ School Eklavya
LOR Consortium for Educational
Consortium
Brihaspati
12 NCERT online Textbooks
 Voice of
the Students
 Adoption and Usage of Technology
Students are increasingly accessing technology
& e-content across multiple access points

With the PC penetration in India growing rapidly and the telecom

revolution ensuring penetration of the internet in Tier II and Tier III
towns, students nationwide are rapidly taking to technology for
academic, entertainment and other pursuits. One notable trend has
been the emergence of schools as a preferred/ common point of
regular access for students in suburban/ rural areas.
The computer usage in urban areas was found to be high with 95%
of the students using it and 70% accessing the internet in the past
one month. While the usage in sub-urban areas still needs to match
the usage in urban areas from current 75% usage of computer and
50% usage of internet.

Access to PC/Net in Last Month

95%
75%
70%
50%

Urban Suburban

Computer Internet

State government school students while trailing, are fast catching up with
the use of PC/ internet. Only 75% of the state government school students
were found using computers as against 100% of students in KVs and 98%
of the students in private schools.
14 Whereas only 46% of the state government school students were found
using computers as against 87% of students in KVs and 74% of the
students in private schools.
School infrastructure is playing a significant role in enabling the students
accessing technology.
The trend is apparent in the case of students in private and state
government schools where the students' internet usage at school is 75%
and 65% respectively.

Schools are increasingly

emerging as location of choice
for ICT Usage

Location of Access to PC/Net in Last Month

71%
58%52%
44% 42%

16%

Home School Cybercafe

Computer Internet

15
 School and home are the major point of usage of technology with 71% of
students using the computer and almost half of the students accessing
internet at schools.
There is a negative shift in internet usage at cybercafés with current usage
being 42%.
The exposure to computer at schools and homes is increasingly driving
students to use it for education and internet purposes.
KV schools lead the internet usage amongst other schools with 75% of the
KV students using internet as against 66% and 49% of students in private
and state government schools.
Interestingly, internet usage is slightly more for education than for e-mail,
chat and social networking sites.

Education tops list of computer

and internet usage areas

Purpose of Purpose of
Computer Usage Internet Usage
78%
60% 59%
50%
43% 45%
40%

Education Recreation Internet Education Email Chat Recreation

16
Demand for Technology in Education
Technology application, once dominated by computer science, is increasingly
finding its place in other subjects - science and maths being the major.
Students in state government schools posed the highest demand for
application of technology with 67% students favouring it as against 60%
students in private schools.
Students in KVs posed highest demand of technology usage with 65% in
subjects other than computer science.
Students across all types of
schools posed a reasonable
demand of 14% in utilising
technology for language subjects. Computer Usage in Subjects

60%

Academic usage of 42%

technology is still
oriented towards 16%
“learning computers” 14%

Maths Science Computer Languages

Science

There is a strong desire among students to improve their computer and

internet knowledge.
A small percentage of 12% rated themselves as excellent, 57% of them
rated themselves as good and average and a considerable 26% rated
themselves as poor computer users.
A large gap exists in the proficiency rating between students in urban and
sub-urban areas.
Only 4% students in suburban areas rated themselves as excellent against
21% students in urban areas. 17
 While 21% students in suburban areas rated themselves as poor against 9%
students in urban areas.

Self Assessment: Technology Proficiency

34%
29% 28%
26%
23%
21%

12%
8%

Excellent Good Average Poor

Computer Internet

A significant percentage of students acknowledged the positive role of

school infrastructure in enhancing their technology proficiency.
65% students had a positive perception of school environment in
urban areas as against 53% students with positive perception in sub-
urban areas.

Student Response:
School’s Role in Improving
Proficiency with ICT
Significant number of
students believe that
technological environment
at school helped improve 42%
their proficiency 58%

Agree Disagree
18
Indian education space is witnessing a rise in the amount spent on child
education by parents. This is encouraged by the realisation of importance of
education in modern life and also by the positive steps taken by the
government in this space.
Out of all students surveyed, 62% were found spending on science, 43% on
maths and 42% on rest of the subjects including social science, language
and computer science.
Half of the students in sub-urban areas spend almost 500 rupees per
month and 38% spend 1000 rupees per month on tuitions.
Approximately, 24% of students in urban areas spend 500 rupees per
month and 41% spend 1000 rupees per month on tuitions.

Student Attending
Coaching Classes

Strong propensity
to pay for learning
in India
53% 47%

Yes No

Students Spend on Tuition (in Rs)

40%
37%

14%
9%

< 500 500 - 1000 1000 - 2000 > 2000 19

 Availability of Technology
in Education
The usage of technology is restricted to computer laboratories in all
KVs and state government schools. However, few private schools have
started using technology in classes, although the percentage is small to
the tune of 8%.
Technology usage is increasingly finding its place through audio/visual
rooms especially made in the schools.
20% students in state schools, 10% in KVs and 3% in private schools
were using technology through audio/visual rooms.
2%
11%

Class Room
Technology Computer Lab
Usage Location
87% Others

Technology Usage

Usage of approximately half 100% 100%

of the students is limited to 2
days per week.
56%
Daily use of technology is
highest in KVs with 37% KV 32% 30%
students, 16% private school 14%
students and 10% state
government school students Atleast Once Atleast 2 Atleast 4
a Week Days/Week Days/Week
using computer every day.
Computer Internet

A considerable share of 16% of all students

20 use computers on a daily basis
The usage of technology still Technology Usage
remains very low in terms of usage
100% 100%
in hours per day.
The usage is restricted to 1 hour per
day amongst 64% of all the 15%
students surveyed. While 26% use
14%
the computer for 2 hours a day.
Computer usage is as low as 2 6% 2%
hours a day among 94% students in Atleast Atleast Atleast
state government schools, 84% in 1 Hr/Day 2 Hr/Day 4 Hr/Day
private schools and 82% in KVs. Computer Internet

76% of all students using E-learning content is increasingly

e-content have primarily finding its place in school education. 43%
of all students surveyed have used it once
used it at school premises.
or more.
Most of the usage has happened at
school, proving to be an initiator and a
E-Learning Content Usage platform for e-learning material.
Among Students
The school infrastructure has specially
proved to be beneficial in case of state
government schools. 81% of the total
57% 43% students using e-learning content use it at
school in case of state government
schools. However, the same figure is 73%
Users Non-Users and 72% for private schools and KVs
across the country.
Location of Usage of
e-Learning Content Home is the second most preferred
location of e-content usage.
76%
49% of the total students using e-learning
33% content use it at school in case of private
13% schools. However, the same figure is 73%
and 42% for KVs and 17% state
Cybercafe School Home government schools across the country. 21
 Pupose of Usage
of e-Learning Content

12% The usage of e-learning

content amongst
students is primarily for
46% assisting course
42% curriculum and learning
of the subject

Learning Material
Learning Assistance
Others

Usage of e-learning is spread evenly amongst all subjects in private

schools while the usage is skewed towards science in KVs and state
government schools.
An overwhelming 91% of the students in KVs used e-learning to assist
learning in science as against 63% of students in the state government
schools.
The average usage of e-learning content is less than an hour a day.

e-Learning Content Usage Subject Wise

68%

25% 27%
23%

Maths Science Computer Language

Science

22
An impressive share of 93% of students across all schools supported the
positive role of technology enabled education (TiE) in enhancing their
learning curve.
The demand is higher in urban areas with 96% of the students showing
positive response towards TiE while 91% of the students in sub-urban areas
also showing a positive response.
KVs and private school students were more enthusiastic about the role of
TiE in their learning experience with 95% in each category showing a
positive response.
In state government schools 91% of the students agreed with the positive
role of TiE in their learning experience.

E-Learning Content Perception Towards Computer

Languages Enabled Learning
1% 7%

99% 93%

English Regional Languages Interested Disinterested

e-learning handicap - e-learning content is

primarily available in English.

23
 Voice of
the Teachers
Familiarity with Technology
Teachers are the key link in equipping young India with technology enabled
education. So, their awareness and adaptability with technology is of
paramount concern.
While the overall figure of 80% teachers using computers is satisfactory, at
the same time only 64% of the teachers are actively using the internet.
Only a minute difference exists in usage of technology by teachers in urban
and sub-urban areas, signifying the lack of infrastructure in the sub-urban
areas.

Teacher’s Familiarity
with Technology

Significant percentage 45%

of teachers with high 36%
35%
basic proficiency but low 28%
on advanced e-learning
technology

Computer Internet

Computer Internet

A difference of almost 10% exists in the usage of computer and internet in

both the urban and sub-urban areas as there is lack of internet availability
at home.
90% of teachers in KVs were found adept at basic computer knowledge
and 87% were familiar with the internet.
The figure for usage of computer by teachers in state government school
was as low as 59%.
25
 A majority of 81% teachers use the internet for e-mail purpose while just
41% use it to access online services such as online banking, payments and
train reservations etc.

Technology Usage Location

88%
83%
Technology usage by
62%
teachers is primarily 47%
restricted to basic
personal function with
17%
usage predominantly 11%
at home
Home School CyberCafe

Computer Internet

Technology usage is primarily preferred at home by teachers in private and

state government schools, usage convenience being the foremost reason.
With 91% teachers using computer at home and 73% using internet at
school, KV teachers’ usage at school surpasses the usage at home.
This signifies the role of better infrastructure in the usage of technology.

Frequency of Training for Teachers

50%
TiE Training: The
Missing Link - Half 32%
of the teachers
receive TiE training 12%
only once a year 3%
3 6 12 24

26 Training Recurrence (in months)

Training plays an important role in updating teachers with latest trends in
technology enabled education.
Only 29% of the teachers were provided sufficient training in the use of
ICT in education.
36% of teachers in urban area schools and 22% of teachers in sub-urban
area schools were found to receive the training.
KVs were found doing a better job in providing training to their teachers.
A satisfactory 67% share of teachers in KVs were provided the trainings
while only 25% and 22% of teachers in private and state government
schools were provided trainings on ICT usage.
The number is worrisome and reflects a weak link in the TiE
implementation.

Duration of Training per Annum

TIE training 47%

provided to most 38%
of the teachers last
for only 5 days
11%
5%

1-2 Week 2-3 Week 3-4 Week > 1 Month

The duration of training provided to teachers is another weak point in

the implementation of TiE in schools. Although KVs rank higher in
providing training to teachers, the duration of training to 85% of them
was found in a range of 10-15 days per year with 55% of them receiving
training for less than 10 days.
59% of public school teachers received training for 10-15 days. The
duration of training to 93% of teachers in state government schools was
found in a range of 10-15 days per year with 62% of them receiving
training for less than 10 days. 27
 Usage of Technology
Schools in India are still catching up with the rising trend of e-learning in
class rooms.
Few teachers have started using e-learning in each class. The trend is visible
in urban areas with 7% of teachers using it in each class while, in sub-urban
areas, there is no trend of using e-learning in each class.
The usage of e-learning is highest amongst teachers in KVs with 80% using
it in special classes and 65% using it for special projects.
Private schools are followed by state government schools in e-learning
usage with 59% of teachers in private schools and 31% of teachers in state
government schools using it in special classes respectively.

Format of e-Content Usage

TiE is restricted to 67% 64%

Audio/Visual rooms but
44%
increasing usage seen
in classrooms

Video PPT Others

Location of e-Content Usage

Video and PPT format are the most
59% preferred mode of e-learning among
53%
teachers as they are simple to operate.
Most of the teachers prefer readymade PPT
material and were found inept to make
5%
their own presentations on the lectures.
Every Class Projects Special
Classes

28
Perception of TiE
An impressive number of teachers across urban and sub-urban locations
were found comfortable with the language of e-content; however they use
regional languages to make students understand the concepts in class
through TiE.

Teacher’s perception on TiE

Comfortable with language 79%

of e-Content
Strong demand
among faculty to
roll out e-learning Would prefer more
TiE in classes 89%
infrastructure

Agree that TiE helps

pupil in faster learning curve 70%

Even though teachers across urban and suburban areas find it

difficult to cope up with the existing technological infrastructure
and training provided to them, they are enthusiastic in increasing
the participation of TiE in the current education system and firmly
believe that it will enable students to comprehend subjects in a
lucid manner.

29
 Voice of
the Schools
Schools have Already Started
Using a Wide Array of Technology
in Education
The Indian education industry is witnessing a surge in the adaptation and
increasing demand of computers in schools. While PCs and printers have
become a necessity, other technology items such as smart board, projector,
shared computers and other display items are finding their way inside the
school education system.
86% of KVs, 42% of private schools and 34% of state government schools
across urban and sub-urban area procured PCs last year, making KVs the
front runners in being technology savvy.
Availability of PCs in schools provides the students a basic infrastructure to
access the technology. However, very less emphasis is laid on the
procurement or update of software required by the students. Only 34% of
the schools expect any expenditure on the software procurement. The
diminutive figure of 19% of state government schools procuring software is
worrisome.
With 45% of urban schools and 24% of suburban schools spending on
software procurement, a large disparity exists between the two.

School Expenditure on
Hardware Products 2009-10
KVs are the Although the
front runners demand of
in procuring 43% projectors is
the PCs owing 34% low in schools,
to the strict it is equal in
21%
government urban and
14%
guidelines sub-urban
areas
Printer PC Projector Display

31
 Schools Expenditure on Software Products 2010-11

67%
33%

Not Expected Expected

Schools have started embracing technology enabled education material.

One third of the schools interviewed expect to spend on TiE in the coming
year. However, the state government schools are still to come at par with
KVs and private schools as less than 20% of them foresee expenditure on
TiE

The School Budgets are Focused

on Hardware Procurement
A large share of 81% schools are spending on technology products.
However, the amount spent remains meagre. Amount spent by KVs remains
higher than the amount spent by other schools owing to the support
provided to them by the central government. Out of 71% of KVs spending
on technology, 54% spent INR 2- 5 Lakhs per year. While out of 84% of
private schools spending on technology, 58% spent less than INR 2 lakhs
per year on technology.

32
 School Expenditure on Tech Education

3% 3% 5%
16%
43%
62% 71%
52%
19% 26%
Hardware Software e-Content

None < 2L 2L-5L >5L

State government schools Almost half the schools

and private schools are
doing balanced spending
on both hardware and
software while very few
KVs spend on software
across all categories in
urban and sub-urban areas
are spending on TiE.
However, majority of these
schools spend less than
INR 2 lakhs p.a.

e-learning content being the latest trend in education is increasingly finding

its place in schools. However, as its awareness still remains low, school
budgets do not prioritize expenditure on the same.
Only 48% of schools were found spending on procuring e-learning content,
out of which only 5% are spending a significant amount between INR 2-5
Lakhs annually.
The market is price sensitive and brand conscious, and emphasises least on
service as a parameter while deciding technology procurement.
All KVs agreed on cost as the prime driving factor in the buying process
while approximately three fourth of the private schools consider brand as
the most important decision making parameter.
33
 Procurement Decision Influencer
The decision makers 81%
of technology 68% 71%
procurement in 52%
schools are price 45%
41%
sensitive and brand
conscious.

Cost Brand Service

Hardware Software

A large number of schools have a positive perception of TiE and believe

that it helps students in quick grasping of concepts irrespective of the
subject taught.
The KVs and private schools across urban and sub-urban areas are prepared
to implement TiE as they are equipped with the infrastructure required for
the same. However, the situation is exactly opposite for the state
government schools as they lack basic technological infrastructure.

School Perception on
‘TiE Enhances Pupil Learning Curve’
7%
Almost every school
is aware of the
benefits of TiE in
education but finds
lack of infrastructure
as a major hurdle in
93% making TiE common

Positive Negative
34
e-content being the latest trend in education space, is finding its way
forward in subjects other than computer science.
Although the actual usage of e-content is restricted to computer science,
one can see a positive perception and its increased demand in other
subjects, science being the most preferred choice.

Demand of TiE in Subjects Taught

TiE has gained 75% 84%

importance in subjects 68% 53%
besides computers,
Science being majorly
emphasized upon

Science Computers S. Science Language

Numerous programs have been conducted by social/non-profit

organisations, education bodies and technology companies to help equip
teachers with the tools for using e-content. The reach of training is clearly
visible in case of KVs but is lacking in case of private and state government
schools.
83% of KVs were found to be providing sufficient training to teachers,
while only 58% of private schools and 38% of state government schools
were able to provide training to teachers.

Teacher’s Training on TiE

Nearly half of the

48% school heads
52% claimed that they
lack in TiE training

Provided Not Provided

35
 Policy Maker's Point of View

ICT in schools will empower teachers

to foster children's capacity for
critical thinking
Dr Ajay Kumar - Principal Secretary, DoIT,
Government of Kerala

In an exclusive interview with TechAtEdu, Dr. Ajay Kumar, chairman of

Kerala State IT Mission (KSITM) and the principal secretary, department of
IT, government of Kerala, states that IT@School is a revolutionary project to
empower all the existing teachers in schools to use ICT as an educational
tool to bring in the paradigm shift from by rote and passive learning to
methods that would foster children's capacity for critical thinking and their
ability to learn on their own.
As the IT secretary for the state of Kerala, Dr Kumar has been instrumental
in initiating various ICT based education and e-governance activities for the
state government. Some of the landmark ICT-based education initiatives
which are being implemented include Akshaya, an e-governance initiative
for hundred percent e-literacy, that is at least one e-literate person in every
household and IT@school, which provides mandatory computer education
at the school level.

What would you identify as the most successful ICT in education

project in your state in 2009?
The most notable implementation of ICT in education in the State of Kerala
has been the IT@School project. The programme was set up by the
government of Kerala in April 2002 to re-model conventional teaching
methodologies through the use of ICT. IT@School is designed to enhance
the intellectual productivity of teachers, learning capabilities of students
and quality of school management, seeks to integrate IT into mainstream
curriculum of the schools of Kerala. The revolutionary project is perhaps the
36 only one of its kind in the entire country to empower all the existing
teachers in schools to use ICT as an educational tool to bring in the
paradigm shift from by rote and passive learning to methods that would
foster children's capacity for critical thinking and their ability to learn on
their own.
The project provides ICT-enabled education to 2,644 schools, 4,776,306
students and 176,569 teachers. Working over a long-term, the project
targets reaches out to 1.6 million students per year. The project, through
ICT, has enabled the empowerment of 5 million students and 0.2 million
teachers through a network of dedicated 200 Master Trainers and 5600 IT
coordinators.
Another significant facet about this project is that it is the single largest
simultaneous deployment of Free and Open Source Software based ICT
education in the world.

What are the DoIT's key priorities in the education sector in 2010?
The key priorities include extending the IT@School project to the primary
level for all schools in the State, ensuring reach of broadband to all schools,
enabling the use of IT as a tool for education. Besides, using IT for
administering examination is also contemplated.

What are the key challenges that DoIT faced in rolling out ICT in
education in 2009 and view on these in 2010?
Resistance to change remains to be the single biggest challenge in this
direction. There is need to create awareness regarding the relevance and
value of collaboration in the field of education and knowledge creation. The
second biggest challenge is lack of adequate resources with the cash-
strapped university systems to invest in IT. This prevents them to adopt to
modern ICT enabled technologies more extensively.

What are the key public-private partnerships in ICT in education

and how have they fared?
In Kerala, most of the IT initiatives in the education sector have been
successfully led by the public sector. A major success is the IT@School
initiative.
37
 On the other hand, the partnership of Akshaya and Intel in the Intel Learn
Programme and IT@School and Intel in Skoool initiative are examples of
public private partnership in the field of education, specifically IT education.
Other models relate to setting up IT labs by various IT certificate providing
companies like CISCO, Novatel etc in various colleges.
Congratulations on launching the first government driven content initiative
“Skoool” reported last week. What are your future plans in space?
The 'Skoool' Kerala project is an Intel driven initiative that brings you highly
innovative, interactive and exciting learning resources via cutting edge
technologies and devices. A first of its kind initiative, Skoool Kerala provides
learners and teachers with all they need to support their understanding of
Science and Maths. It leverages the expertise of top teachers in their fields
for the development of its content.
Again a public-private partnership in ICT in education, the project can be
extended to cover other subject areas, depending on the response that this
recently launched initiative evokes.
http://kerala.skoool.in/about_skoool.htm

What is the case study in Kerala you think has best potential to be
replicated nationwide?
If one were to speak from the education sector alone, The IT@School has
potential enough for nation-wide replication since it helps to train children.
But however on a larger level, the Akshaya Project, which has provided e-
literacy to people across all age groups would be worthy of replication.

38
Case Study: IT@School

Introduction
Changing lives across 2466 government and government aided schools,
IT@School project is a progressive initiative started by the Government of
Kerala in April 2002 providing ICT enabled education to 1.6 million
students per year in the state. This revolutionary project was set up to
redesign the conventional methodologies of teaching through the use of
ICT, and has empowered 5 million students and 0.2 million teachers
through 200 master trainers and 5600 IT coordinators since its
commencement.

Objectives
With a vision to create an IT literate community, IT@School works towards
improving the quality of education using the latest ICT tools available. It
aims to improve the effectiveness of the entire education department
through the mechanism of e-governance. It also aims at providing training
to teachers in latest innovations in the space. IT@School has deployed Free
and Open Source Software (FOSS) based ICT education.

Activities
1. IT@School provides for capacity building of the teaching and learning
community through training programmes in ICT, internet, hardware
and ICT enabled education for teachers and IT coordinators. 39
 2. An important function of the project is infrastructure upgradation
involving deployment of IT infrastructure including around 7300
computers and associated hardware to around thousands of schools in
Kerala. It also develop content for ICT enabled education for upper
primary and high school classes.
3. It is also involved in maintenance of EDUSAT interactive terminals for
training programmes across 15 different centres and runs the Virtual
Class Technology on EDUSAT for Rural Schools (ViCTERS) educational
channel with in-house production facility for educational content.
ViCTERS reaches out to 12,500 schools and around 50 lakh students,
offering them interactive virtual classrooms serving as a platform to
interact with subject experts and educationists thereby ensuring
provision of high quality education.
4. Transformation across all the levels can be seen through IT@School e-
Governance initiatives. IT@School has been working to ensure
availability of broadband internet connectivity to all schools to enable
the use of IT as a tool for education.

Achievements
IT@School project has been successfully leveraging IT to bring out
transformation across students and teachers from different socio-economic
strata in Kerala and has been enhancing productivity of teachers along with
imparting skills and knowledge to students. Around 15 lakh students
acquire IT skills through this project every year.
The world's largest simultaneous deployment of FOSS initiatives in
education have been carried by this project.
IT@School and Intel have initiated 'Skoool Kerala' which is designed to
provide students and teachers with highly engaging and innovative learning
resources in Maths and Science using technology.

40
Case Study: Live@edu

Microsoft, under its program live@edu is working in the directions to

enhance ICT adoption in schools and build the employability readiness skills
of the future workforce in the country. The company is working in tandem
with many state governments in the country.
Live@edu is a suite of application that can be easily deployed by
educational institutes. It offers Mobile, web and desktop based
applications, helping students to collaborate easily.
Live@edu provides students, staff, faculty, and alumni long-term, primary
e-mail addresses and other applications they can use to collaborate and
communicate online. The company regularly updates and adds to Live@edu
services, so partner institutions can continually expand the set of services
offered to students and alumni. And students will be using company's
products similar to those used in many workplaces, helping to prepare
them for jobs after college.
With its effort through Live@edu, the company is trying to help reduce
some of these common problems faced in IT infrastructure, including:
High maintenance costs.
?

Too much time spent maintaining e-mail systems for students and
?
alumni rather than working on more strategic initiatives.
Lack of common tools for students to communicate and collaborate
?
with others on campus.
Keeping students safer online and helping to keep their data private.
? 41
 Key Benefits
Live@edu offers the following benefits to its partner institutes:
Save time and money. It provides free service for K–12 and Higher
Education institutions. Because it's a hosted service, the partner institutes
save on the ongoing maintenance costs or updating systems.
Give students an e-mail address with the university domain. It offers
students a unique e-mail mailbox they can keep even after they graduate.
E-mail accounts include an email inbox through Outlook Live with 10GB
inbox and 20MB attachments—along with spam filtering, calendaring, and
other features.
Build on what you have. Live@edu works with the investments institutes
have already made on their IT infrastructure. It's compatible with Windows,
Mac, and Linux computers and can integrate with your existing student
directories
Give students the applications they want, and help them work together
with faculty. Live@edu includes applications that can help collaboration,
including:
Office Live Workspace
?
Windows Live SkyDrive
?
Windows Live Spaces
?
Microsoft SharedView Beta
?
Windows Live Messenger
?
Windows Live Alerts
?

Help keep students safe online. Live@edu includes features and policies to
protect the privacy of students’ communications. For example, the e-mail
services include anti-phishing technologies and SSL-encrypted
authentication, and Live@edu policies prohibit third-party banner ads in e-
mail and the sharing of information with third parties unless the student
opts in.
Stay in touch with alumni. Offer current and future alumni an e-mail
address with your school brand that they can keep for life and use to stay
42 connected with your institution and with fellow alumni.
Numerous institutes including Symbiosis, Pune and Modern School, Delhi
has implemented the service in their campuses. Students and teachers are
excited about its reliability, as well as the ability to keep their
communications in one place.
Worldwide, the service was launched by the company about two years
back. In India, the company has signed up with 1000 schools both at K12
and university level and providing e-mail ids to around half a million
students studying across the country. The adoption is growing day by day
and it is going to get widely adopted.

Most of the schools are progressive about technology

these days, and I have seen a rapid adoption and
inclusion in their IT infrastructure of the school.
- Tarun Malik, Director,
Marketing and Strategy, Microsoft India

live@edu has helped the live@edu makes learning

students to widen their
horizons in terms of
education through
technology. It has provided
common platform to share
information regarding
curricular and co-curricular
activities.
- Mrs. Jyoti Gupta, Principal,
K. R. Mangalam School, Delhi
easier and quicker to
students while at the
same time it is time saving
and convenient to
teachers. The service is
provided in a controlled
and efficient manner.
- Lata Vaidyanathan,
Principal, Modern School,
Delhi 43
 Way Forward
There are several critical factors that determine whether ICT and e-content
could be made available to schools to enhance education imparting
capacities to students at an affordable rate.

Infrastructure
Infrastructure is the key to get along with the global information network.
To get into the threshold of a digital society and economy, it is important to
have the basics such as: computers, e-content, smart boards, LCD
projectors and etc. They are generally capital intensive tasks involving a
huge amount of resources, technology, human skills and so on. It depends
on government willingness and capacity, public-private partnerships and
incentives for private operators.

Access
This is the top most issue in sub-urban areas. Accessibility involves
availability of satellite based programme, mobile services, internet facilities,
access to relevant and timely training programmes, and so on.

Affordability
A higher cost of access to ICT is denying millions to the basic infrastructure
required to explore the advantages of ICT in education space. Affordability
determines user's access and subsequent opportunities. Even if
infrastructure is available it must be affordable to be widely used.

44
Capacity Building
This is about opportunities provided for training and learning or making ICT
literate. This involves providing timely and relevant educational and
technical assistance to teachers. Capacity building also involves
coordination between various stakeholders in building capacity by sharing
resources and technology and its use and dissemination.

Content Relevance
Content should be relevant and specific to subjects, boards and students.
This helps to enlist wider support in specific content generation,
dissemination and usability. Importantly, it should be able to deal effectively
with local language syndrome.

Policy Framework
Timely and relevant guidelines help to foster ICT penetration for greater
socio-economic gains and growth. Steps like deregulation, encouraging
private participation, tax and duty incentives, wise spending of resources
help to integrate ICT with national goals and its fulfilment.

Coordination among stakeholders

This is very important in the present circumstances. It calls for greater
coordination between public and private parties such as content generation
companies, technology companies, state and central boards and
government. This also includes role of public authorities, civil society,
individuals, corporate working in tandem to deliver ICT benefits to the
education sector.

45
 Methodology
In order to gauge the Awareness, Perception, Usage and Consumption of
ICT among teachers, students and technology buyers, Webchutney carried
out detailed face-to-face interviews with the principals, teachers and
students in identified Kendriya Vidyalayas, public and state government
schools across urban and sub-urban areas in the country. The interviews
were conducted on the basis of selected parameters for the study.
The samples were selected by “probability proportional to population (ppp)
with replacement” method. The 2001 census data was used to identify the
sampling frames for urban and sub-urban survey frames. We conducted a
statistically representative sample survey of principals, teachers and
students. The object of stratification was implemented with an objective to
(i) increase efficiency of the survey design, and (ii) ensure administrative and
operational convenience. The field data was collected by data collection
agents hired by Webchutney.

Coverage
The research was conducted based on the following coverage:

Scope Number Details

States 5 Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra and Kerala
Districts 15 3 in each state
Schools 300 20 in each district
Students 3000 10 in each school from 10th and
12th standard
Teachers 1200 4 in each school (Science, maths,
IT and language)
Technology Buyers 300 1 in each school

Based on the results and insights in the study, key actionable points were
identified where the government in concert with industry can move to
quickly address specific demand areas in the technology enabled education
46 value chain.
About the Authors
Sidharth Rao
Sidharth Rao is the Chief Executive Officer and
Co-Founder of Webchutney, India's leading and
most awarded web services company.

With over 12 years of industry experience,

Sidharth has made a significant contribution in
shaping the interactive marketing industry in
India. Sidharth leads the 125 people strong
organization assisted by an excellent management team across New
Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

He can be reached at sidharth.rao@webchutney.net

Madhu Sudhan
Madhu Sudan is the Director leading DotGov,
Webchutney's e-governance business.

With significant experience in the media and

technology space, he has a deep understanding of
the digital domain. He has considerable experience
with the Network18 group and has worked
extensively on technology and internet media. He holds a degree in
business management from IIM Bangalore and an undergraduate
degree in electronics & communications engineering.

He can be reached at madhu.sudhan@webchutney.net

47
 Rajesh Arora
Rajesh Arora is the Vice President of DotGov,
Webchutney's e-governance business. A sterling
technology media professional with over 14
years of robust industry experience in Sales and
Marketing, his past leadership in online as well
as offline companies include IT Nation, Indian
Express and CyberMedia.
Rajesh leads a dedicated team of digital
specialists and seasoned sales-force with
operations spanning across the country, to meet the increasing digital
needs of emerging enterprises and mid-size outfits, as they become
the next set of industry leaders in India.
He can be reached at rajesh.arora@webchutney.net

Priyank Jain
Priyank is the Senior Analyst with DotGov,
Webchutney's e-governance business. He carries a
significant research experience with Evalueserve
and Capgemini. In dotGov division of Webchutney,
he tracks the Indian Education space. His past
projects were related to market sizing, industry
overview, competitive analysis, and company
profiling. He holds a certificate in business management program from
IIM Calcutta and an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering.
He can be reached at priyank.jain@webchutney.net

A special thanks to Sushil Kumar for conceptualising

and executing the report design.
48
 About Webchutney’s
dotGov Division
Webchutney's DotGov division is committed to partner with central,
state and local governments in India to provide convenient, citizen
oriented and cost effective public services through electronic media.

Our goal is to enable the Indian government and public bodies

make optimal use of the digital medium to deliver information and
services to the citizens.

Webchutney has been ranked the Number 1 Digital Services

Company in India, two years in a row by Economic Times (Dec 2008
, 2009). Our offices are in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. We
work closely with fortune 500 and Blue Chip Indian companies in
implementing their digital strategies and solutions.

Services
We provide a wide array of consulting services ranging from
strategic planning and change enablement to technology
assessment and portal implementation.

For more information, log onto www.webchutney.com

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