The Indian Education System: Policy on ICT - Essay Example

?Information Technology Education in India Introduction The industrial sector of an economy affects the education system a country if not directly. History has witnessed that often after great revolutions the education system of the world economy as a whole have undergone changes. The education system transformed itself during the industrial revolution to meet the demands of the new economy. Punctuality, cleanliness and obedience were the pre-requisites then. In this present situation standing at the dawn of the Information age education system in India is undergoing a change. Some scholars are of the opinion that the Information technology has brought about fundamental changes in the whole world and to be a part of that Information Age one has to have the capability of assimilating and processing the complex information. In the present scenario authors are of the opinion that “education meets the needs of the students when it meets the needs of industry”. (Ezer, 2006, p. 201) It’s like a tailor made education system which has been designed to meet the present job requirements. Especially the growth of information technology in the developed Western Economy has given the idea to the developing economies that the positive benefits of the Information and Communication technology (ICT) can also be utilized in the nations to move towards the development. It has been argued that society can be improved and made richer and even more democratic with the help of the ICT. The transformation of the World Economy into a global village has generated several job opportunities for the nations, and India does not stand exception to that. The recent globalization have paved way for free trade which has increased the competition in the domestic economy as more and more foreign firms started establishing here, thereby making the domestic firms take the aid of the ICT to be in the market. With the involvement of ICT in every sector of the country, IT (Information Technology) education has become very important and necessary for the country. (Ezer, 2006, pp. 201-202) It won’t be too far for India to come out as the knowledge super power if the nation makes an effort to convert the demographic benefit into knowledge powerhouse by encouraging and developing the working population of the country into “knowledge enabled working population”.(National mission on Education through information and communication technology, 2009) Literature Review The importance of the ICT in school education has been highlighted in the National Curriculum Framework 2005, hence it is quite expected that there would be a major shift in the “paradigm of the education” (NCF 2005). The period during 2010-2020 has been announced as the “decade of innovation” by the Government of India, the foundation of which lies in the school, hence it is necessary for the school to impart ICT education in the class rooms. The focus is on simple accessibility to information and to make an effort to assemble different views and analyze it to customize it in one’s own way (ICT in school education in India, 2010). Researchers have often emphasized upon the importance of human resource and hence, the significance of IT education. For instance, Khirwadkar (2005) observes that India is a country with huge human resource and hence she should make an effort to move in the pace of the globalization by making changes appropriate to time and place in the field of learning and teaching, so that the great human resource that the country has can be equipped with various skills and techniques which are a pre requisite to survive in the present changing world. She observes that India is one of the greatest sources of software specialists and hence she should not be the one who would lag behind in the race of technological advancement. So the country needs appropriate adjustment and alteration in its policies that are related to the ICT education. To meet the increasing population and the escalating demands of the society the complete utilization of the potential of the Information and Communication Technology becomes a necessary. The amalgamation of education and communication technology has created new boundaries for social and economic development. It has been predicted that the contribution of the knowledge led business to the global GDP will become twice over the coming 10 years which would account for two- third of the global GDP growth. India is one of the largest generators of scientific and professional manpower which gives her the comparative advantage in the knowledge led business. In this respect education has an important responsibility to enact, as the producer of the world class manpower and using the ICT benefits to transform her in order to adept to the changes by imparting quality education among all its citizens. (Khirwadkar, 2005, pp. 180-182) Researchers like Ezer (2006) have emphasized upon the importance of social factors in successful implementation of IT. Ezer cites ICT as that gift to the world which always gives benefit. It has been also argued that from the point of view of technical determinism, the world is the effect where the technology is the cause. Though it does not mirror reality always, there have been instances where the objective could not be met with the implementation of ICT owing to the social factors (Ezer, 2006, p. 203). In the similar tune as Khirwadkar, Mahapatra (2005) is of the opinion that the knowledge is discovering new aspects in each three months because of the enhancement in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The research here talks of the different forms of education system which have emerged in the IT scenario of India. In the demanding globalization scenario every country is making an effort to demonstrate their intellectual superiority by their products. The education system and the knowledge exploration which is spreading fast throughout the whole world with the help of the media are in the process satisfying the global world crisis. India’s one of the leading organization has projected itself through the Computer Society of India (CSI) by maintaining the requirement and necessity of technology in various dimensions in social prospect research and in the extension work. The Indian Education System has adopted the technology based education from the elementary to the higher level. The notion of globalization through an extensive coverage vicinity, the technology based education is the true medium which will be proficient to accomplish the need of globalization and the National Goal. In keeping with this observation, the report ‘Towards a national Policy on ICT in schools education in India’ (2008) observes that mobile education system has been initiated to support the lifelong learning process. But that again would cause some technological and access related difficulties in different regions across the world. The Involvement of desktop based education has been well adapted in the prevailing education system and now it is the time for mobile education to inculcate itself in the Indian Education system. References 1. Ezer, J. (2006) Gandhi’s Third Assassination: Information and Communications technology Education in India, Wiley Interscience, Vol. 12, No. 3, available at: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=a67714d2-d548-458c-97c5-2f19932d22fe%40sessionmgr115&vid=1&hid=106 (accessed on May 16,2011) 2. National mission on Education through information and Communication Technology,(2009), Mission Document, available at: http://www.iitg.ernet.in/cet/MissionDocument_20Feb09.pdf (accessed on May 16,2011) 3. ICT in schools Education in India, (2010), United World, available at: http://www.icbse.com/2010/ict-schools-education-india/ (accessed on May 16, 2011) 4. Khirwadkar, A. (2005), Information and Communication Technology in education: Interactive multi- media Instructional strategies for teaching- Learning Process, Sarup & Sons, New Delhi, India. 5. Mahapatra, B. (2005), Information Technology and Education, Sarup and Sons, New Delhi, India. 6. Towards a national policy on the ICT in School education in India, (2008), CDMS, available at : http://www.csdms.in/gesci/pdf/gesci_compendium2008.pdf (accessed on May 17, 2011) Read More