Gujarat govt primary schools create own blogs,FB pages

The concept,floated by the Gujarat Educational Innovation Commission (GEIC),it is executed,managed and monitored by school teachers concerned,with suggestions from students and staff.

While a few primary schools have recently launched their individual blogs and Facebook pages,others are in the process of creating them.

GEIC commissioner Dr Jayanti Ravi says school teachers are being motivated through meetings and discussions. Though the focus is on primary schools in the initial stage,it will be expanded to senior and secondary schools as well as higher education institutes like colleges later,Ravi says.

The responsibility of creating and posting blogs will be of teachers,who have been asked by GEIC to use their free time to do it. With computer science as a mandatory subject,the state education department claims of providing computers in each school,though Internet connectivity is still in the process of being provided to schools.

“Initially,information on creating blogs,posts,its utility and management was shared among ourselves. Then,one of the computer science teachers of a school came up with the school blog that was soon much talked about in the fraternity and students. Other schools are in the process of replicating this concept that is also expected to see innovations in the manner material is posted on these blogs,” said Sachin Patel,a school teacher at Itadara Primary School number 2 in Gandhinagar district.

The Itadara Primary School is in the process of creating its blog while Government Primary School Prabhunagar,Surat,and Government Primary School Nava Nadisar in the Panchmahals are already successfully running their own blogs.

The state education department has also revised the curriculum of primary classes this year. Not only computer science has been made a compulsory subject,but also information on computer,websites,how to create e-mail id,various types of mobile phones and other gadgets is a part of curriculum for subjects like English.