MARQUEE

URGENT IMPORTANT APPEAL ACT ( Association for Computer Teachers ) అనే ఉద్యమం కంప్యూటర్ టీచర్లతో శ్రీకాకుళం లో నెమ్మదిగా ప్రారంభమయినది . 2011 జూలై 10వ తేదిన ఆవిర్భవించింది. సభ్యుల సమస్యల పరిష్కారమే లక్ష్యంగా పనిచేసింది. ఇతర సంఘాలతో భుజం కలిపి పోరాడింది. సమ్మెలకు ఉద్యమాలకు మారుపేరుగా నిలిచింది. కోర్దినేటర్ల వేధింపులకు ఏజెన్సీల మోసాలకు ఎదురు తిరిగింది. ఈ క్రమంలో అనేక మంది సభ్యులు ఉద్యోగాలు పోగొట్టుకున్నారు. అన్ని జిల్లాలకు, రాష్ట్రమంతట ACT పేరు మారుమ్రోగింది. నిజాయితీకి నిర్భీతికి చిరునామాగా మారింది కనుకనే రాష్ట్ర స్థాయి సంఘంగా మారింది. చాలిచాలని జీతాలతో బ్రతుకులు ఈడుస్తున్న మన కంప్యూటర్ టీచర్ల దగ్గర నుంచి ఒక్క రూపాయి కూడా తీసుకోకుండా పనిచేయ్య్లనేదే ACT ఉద్దేశ్యం. అందరి ఉపాధ్యాయుల వలె కంప్యూటర్ టీచర్లు గౌరవప్రదంగా జీవించాలనేదే ACT కర్తవ్యం. అందుకే ఏ రొజూ సభ్యుల నుంచి పైసాకుడా వసూలు చెయ్యలేదు. ఇకముందు కూడా వసూలు చెయ్యదు. వసులూ చేసే అధికారాన్ని ACT ఎవరికీ ఇవ్వలేదు. ACT పేరుతొ వస్తున్న ఈ మెయిల్స్ మరియు SMS లకు ఎవరు స్పందిచ వద్దని ఎవరికీ డబ్బులు చెల్లించవద్దని ACT STATE COMMITTEE కోరుతోంది ACT చందాలకు, వసూళ్ళకు, సభ్యత్వ రుసుములకు వ్యతిరేకం జై కంప్యూటర్ టీచర్ !!! జై జై ACT !!!

Friday, February 19, 2016

Digital divide in Hyderabad

In the city of much-feted T-Hub, state-run schools have no computers.
The situation is truly sad as 78 per cent of primary schools and 45 per cent of higher secondary schools in Hyderabad do not even have computers. (Representational image)

Hyderabad: The Telangana government prides itself on Hyderabad’s global IT presence and for building an incubation center, but it is unable to provide minimum computer education to students studying in government schools in the capital city.

The situation is truly sad as 78 per cent of primary schools and 45 per cent of higher secondary schools in Hyderabad do not even have computers.

Buying computers for government schools seems to be a tough job for a government that boasts of a surplus budget. For 2016-17, proposals have been made for buying computers for a meagre 24 high schools and 15 primary schools in Hyderabad. Buying of computers for high schools was initiated in 2008, but in the last eight years the government succeeded in buying computers for only 103 of the 189 high schools in Hyderabad. Of these not a single one was bought in the past five years, including after the TRS government came to po-wer 20 months ago. The last time computers were bought for high schools was in 2010-11, for 19 schools.

The picture is not rosy even in those schools where computers were bought, as none of these schools have dedicated instructors. Teachers teaching other subjects, and having hands-on experience in basics of computer usage, take out time to share their knowledge with the students.

Another serious issue is that almost half of the computers that were bought for the high schools and primary schools are not functioning due to lack of maintenance. In some cases it is a problem of mice cutting through computer wires, rendering them useless.

District education officer Somi Reddy said, “As of now teachers trained in handling computers are not teaching computers to schoolkids.

Computer teachers have not been recruited yet because an agency has not been selected to hire and train computer teachers.”

A student of the Aliya Government High School in Gunfoundry said, “Many of us are from such backgrounds that we cannot afford a computer at home. While joining the school our parents and us expected that we would get a chance to work on computers but it has not been possible.”

State school kids find it harder to catch up
The digital divide is growing wider with every passing year in Telangana as many students graduate from private high schools with basic knowledge of computers while their counterparts in government high schools pass out without even getting a chance to operate a computer.

In many private CBSE schools children of Classes IX and X are taught basics of programming languages like C, C++ and Java as part of their curriculum.

Even in private schools that follow the State Board syllabus, children are taught basics of computers in air-conditioned computer labs.

In government high schools, even though there exists a 10-mark theory paper on computer education in Class X, many students drop this paper as it is voluntary. This is because they have never operated a computer in school due to lack of infrastructure.

The principal of a government high school said, “Our students are no less competent than private school students but the government is failing to encourage them by providing even a computer while kids in private schools are operating tabs.”

Prof. S. Ramachandram, principal of Osmania University College of Engineering said, “The government is now talking of Digital India. It should start from the school level itself if the digital divide has to be filled between the digital haves and have-nots. In first year Engineering, the difference between students of government and private schools is amply visible as many of the former have to try harder to understand the programming languages. Poor soft skills add to their difficulties. It takes a while for them to attain parity with students from private schools.”

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