Kerala
Towards Bridging Productivity Divide

Research has shown that if you study by hearing something you retain 20 per cent. If you see what you learn you retain 50 per cent. So what if you can see and hear what you learn? Retention becomes 70 per cent or more. This is more than enough to understand that ICT-enabled education is the education of the future. Kerala believes in this. This is better proved with the recent inauguration of a ‘Smart Class’ in a Higher Secondary School in Thiruvananthapuram. As part of the innovative teaching method, a computer and four monitors each would be provided to all classes in the school. The teachers will display on the monitor the topics on which they are taking classes for helping the students to understand them clearly. So when a Geography teacher explains a lesson dealing with volcanoes, a visual of the exploding volcano and flowing larva would be displayed on the computer screen. As part of the scheme, the school has purchased 42 computers for all the 42 divisions from standard I to standard XII. The computer in each class will be connected to the server room named knowledge centre. The teachers should inform the knowledge centre the topics they intend to cover during a week.

The belief goes firmer with the fact that the hardware for ICT-enabling secondary education was almost in place in the state, for programmes like IT@School and EDUSAT.

The IT @ School Project has remodeled conventional teaching methodologies in classrooms through use of Information Technology. The project, in its first stage, is being implemented in 2,738 High Schools; over 40,000 teachers were given 90 hours of training on IT skills and computer labs with 10 to 60 computers are available in all High Schools. The project is unique in that it is the schoolteacher than a techie who delivers lessons, both theory and practical, in classrooms.

The Virtual Classroom Technology on EDUSAT for Rural Schools (VICTERS) programme is active to harness the satellite for teacher training programmes, providing high-speed net connectivity to schools and for implementing learning management solutions.

In tune with the policy of the National Institute of Education Technology, SIET, Kerala, was engaged in developing broadcast-ready educational content for students from standards eight to twelve. As of now, SIET had about 600 hours of broadcast-ready educational content. SIET has also readied a CD-kit containing 150 video CDs as part of the CD library project of the Education Department. These CDs contain documentaries based on the syllabus of standard 10 in the State’s schools. SIET is also awaiting the final approval for its Rs.138-crore ‘ICT@School’ project submitted to the Centre. This project, if cleared, would ICT-enable learning and teaching in all Government schools in the State within five years.  

 What is the vision the education policy is based upon in Kerala?

Kerala is now charting out its course in such a way that child learns from his own motivation. We do not want something to be imposed upon the child by the teachers. To achieve this a child must have an enjoyable classroom and enjoyable course so that he can draw lessons from his own experiences. Our focus is to provide enjoyable learning to the children. Education should be such that a child’s talent, knowledge and experiences come out spontaneously.

 What are the new strategies the state has adopted to improve the quality of education in the state?

We have implemented a new examination management system through Grading. Under the system the child is graded on a nine-point scale instead of getting marks. A child has to be somewhere above B grade. So now the evaluation system and learning process, both are different. In the classroom itself there is so much scope of child’s individual expression, observation skills and concentration power of focusing on issues. We have projects and seminars in the classrooms; even in small classrooms we have seminars, projects and assignments. Our aim is that when child reaches at university level he will find all these as a part of the building process.

 What are the interventions you have made so far to integrate ICTs in the educational process?

We have tried to bring in IT in very big way. IT is in the curriculum for students in 8, 9, and 10 standards. For secondary level examination IT is one of the optional subjects, which interested children can opt for. A lot of new vistas have been opened after the use of IT. We have EDUSAT through which education is being provided to schools in rural areas. Certain science concepts, mathematical concepts and experiments through graphics can easily be explained. We have also prepared CDs on various subjects, which are meant for middle schools and high schools. These CDs are not to replace but to supplement the teachers in their teaching process. We also organise live classrooms by telecasting lessons from expert teachers; this is going to help all the schools, particularly schools in rural and inaccessible areas. Teachers’ absenteeism is still quite high, which is a sad part. Here, with the help of EDUSAT programme and CDs we have tried to reach out at the grass root level to pick up faster and to teach faster. We are in a take off stage with some issues and at the same time we try to maintain quality.

 What are the initiatives taken or you are taking to improve the skills of teachers?

The most important thing is teachers’ accountability for all the training you might give. Even if you have all the evaluating tools and monitoring system, you cannot have someone monitoring the teachers all the time. All the trainings in the world can not make a teacher to teach the way you want them to unless the teacher imbibes new concepts, new methodologies, and new pedagogical aspects of subjects. What we need to do is that to give teachers a sense of commitment, make the teacher realise that (s)he is accountable for the child, society and the nation at large. At least, in our state all the teachers are well qualified and well trained too. The only question remains is about the commitment of the teachers and our capacity building. The best way to do this would be to have a proper Management Information System (MIS).

 Please illustrate a little more on the MIS.

I am looking at the system where we have a schools MIS, and a subject MIS. It is not to find a fault with the teacher; rather it is to identify the teachers who need additional support. That is why we are looking at developing a school MIS and a class MIS, so that every teacher would be able to enter the marks and grade of each child and see whether there is upward movement. The children are not to be blamed if there is consistent average or below average performance of the child. We need to find out the ways to enrich teachers’ skills and their capacity building. And I am sincerely looking forward to it.



 What are the other challenges you face in the education process apart from motivating the teachers for their committed performance?

Quite similar to other parts of our country, our students too are doing poor in Mathematics and English subjects. We have to build on the strengths of our students in those subjects, so that students become internally capable wherever they are. Use of computers in education technology is very important in order to upgrade such education system. 

The interview was taken some time back. Currently, K J Mathew is the Secretary of General Education Department, Kerala.