Computers for young children in India

Childhood Education, 2003 by Thirumurthy, Vidya, Sundaram, Nithya

In December 2001, the first author visited an elementary school in Nanganeri, a small village in Tamil Nadu State, that served 117 children (59 girls and 58 boys). (It might be of interest to the reader to note that here, in a village school, the girls outnumbered the boys, reflecting the changing trend in India.) The headmaster of the school had a computer in his office, neatly wrapped in a plastic sheet. The computer had crashed while the children were using it, and it had not yet been repaired. When asked about software, the headmaster stated, "It came with the computer. . . . Children were playing ABC and addition and subtraction," reflecting his unfamiliarity with the equipment.

During the summer of 2000, the first author also spent two days in a private preschool [nursery school] in an upper middle-class neighborhood in Chennai. The children spent three hours at the preschool. She observed that on both days, the 4-year-olds were taken in small groups to the computer room to play language games. While each child was given full control of the computer for about five minutes, a teacher was present in case anyone needed assistance.

The city government of Chennai, capital of Tamil Nadu, funds corporation schools. Most of the children who attend these schools are from low-income families, perpetuating the social stratification. Three years ago, the first author visited the Kamaraj Corporation School in Chennai. This school had a television, a cassette player, and a speakerphone system. The principal, Rajavelu, was particularly proud of the speakerphone system, which had been installed just that year. Over the last three years, the corporation schools have received more updated technological components. In 2001, the mayor of Chennai, M. K Stalin, announced that an online facility was being made available to 19 schools in Chennai and soon would be implemented in another 60 schools (Chennai City Corporation Web page). As many as 50,000 students in grades 9 through 12 would benefit from these online lessons. Inaugurating the first facility at a Corporation Girls' School in south Chennai, Union Environment Minister T. R. Baalu dedicated Rs.10 million (approximately $205,000 USD) from his constituency fund for the implementation of the project in south Chennai schools. He added that the classrooms would be equipped with liquid crystal display (LCD) projectors and screens.

Other major cities also have set aside funds for technological equipment in schools. A joint project between the government of India and the state of Madhya Pradesh has established virtual classrooms in collaboration with a local university, and they have begun training programs for teachers on technology integration.

Computer use is more widespread in the high schools than in the elementary schools. There are competitions, within state and interstate schools, private and public, that challenge students to use computers to solve a scientific problem. No such programs exist that similarly challenge elementary school children.