Field Visit -- Digital Literacy Program -- Thiruvallur District 24th Aug 2022
The Ford
Digital Literacy Program has been in existence for more than a decade.
Partnership with primarily Rotary and with several deserving NGO has led to the
deployment and setting up of computer labs across the country – As
they Say “Kashmir to Kanyakumari” –covering the length and breadth of the country.
There is
nothing like visiting the schools or other institutions to see how the
computers are deployed and used.. the proof the pudding lies in being on the
ground and understanding realities.
It was with
that intent that I visited Thiruvallur district – Area where one of our
partners ASHA works in and with 85 schools – spread across Elementary(
Classes 1-5 ) to Middle ( 6-8) to High Schools( 11and 12th grades )
Mr Rajaraman and Mr Ramakrishnan Volunteers of ASHA were kind enough to take me
to some of the schools that they work with and show how effectively the
computers are deployed.
We visited a
middle school , a elementary school and a High school covering all classes from
Class 1 to class XII. It was such a
wonderful experience to interact with kids and see them use the Computers..
ASHA has supported each of these schools with a dedicated Computer teacher at
their own cost Not only that , there is a software ( again ASHA developed
) that is very intuitive and brings the learning aspect and the engagement of
the student. The schools are pretty much in rural village with
strength ranging from 30 ( elementary ) to 400 ( High school ). For
these children to have access to Computer learning is just fantastic … And with
Ford making available the latest (14” Dell laptops, mostly i3 with 4GB
RAM and 128GB SSD. Some of them were higher configuration with i5 processor,
8GB RAM and 256GB SSD. And touch screen to boost .. One could watch the kids as
they dabbled in learning , some writing codes as well !!
The visit ended with a quick tour of the Rural training
Center set up at Poondi that works in the after school time from 3:30 to 7:30
and where Computer education is taught free . The Rural Tech center is a set up
in collaboration with the Rural Outreach Program of IIT Madras. What an
opportunity for everyone in the area to learn computers with proper guidance
and with excellent infrastructure…
So what were things that is making this whole program work
well at Thiruvallur District ?
- ASHA
team has done excellent work in identifying schools , securing proper
approvals and penetration is really in areas that need support
- Trained
Computer teacher support at each school to ensure that there is a proper
method of education
- Hardware
support – Sometimes due to power issues, computers do go down, ASHA has
employed a tech team that quickly ensures support and classes do not get
stopped.
- Governance
,through visits by Volunteers from Chennai
Although
Tiruvallur district is close to Chennai due to traffic and roads , it took
time.. Each school is away from one another , with small mud roads. In one
village , it was just the school and couple of houses that made up the village
… But
all this trouble is worth it when you see that 1st standard student using
the Computers left , right and center ... Sheer joy at the Outcome !
Thanks
to the ASHA team for such an effective deployment and for the affirmation of
the Ford Digital program being successful in its journey
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