Towards a Policy for ICT in Indian Schools

1. As the interface between the technology and society is expanding, we need an unambiguous policy statement saying ‘why ICT in schools’.

2. The Policy should recognize the significant shift all over the world, from the use of the technology as a delivery device for children to passively receive a fixed amount of ‘content’, to:

• practices that empower the learner to use technology as a tool for exploration,
• uses such as communication, collaboration, mining information and the like, and
• reach out to those whom schools have not been able to retain.

3. The Policy should enlist the expected outcome of ICT-use in schools, which should be perceptible (if not measurable) in the learner as:

• Knowledge to handle real-life problems
• Skills to use technology
• Attitude to face issues arising along with technology expansion
• Values to respect social institutions and
• Competencies to combine all these and act as an active, socially
• responsible learner.

4. The Policy may also:

• underscore the need for flexible school curricula, which would promote a vast range of spontaneous and innovative ICT practices
• implement systemic reforms to support such practices and
• spell out a plan for teacher preparation.

5. The Policy should spell out the provisions for

• monitoring of ICT in schools programmes, including development of databases of practices in schools
• periodic, data-driven (i.e. not opinion-oriented) policy review, so that the Policy becomes a dynamic entity – not for repackaging.

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Read all the responses to our call for suggestions, recommendations and position papers on ‘Defining a Roadmap for Building a National ICT in School Education Policy’

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