Stating that motor skills and hand-eye coordination of very young school children are often ill-developed due to staring at and using computers,a sub-committee of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) on Information and Computing Technologies (ICT) in school education has recommended that computers should be avoided at the primary level. The report will be deliberated at the CABE meeting next week,which will have representatives from various state education departments. Reacting to various notions of ICT and public aspirations,schools have tended to introduce computers at very early stages of schooling. It is not uncommon in well-equipped schools to find very young children whose motor skills and hand-eye coordination are inadequately developed due to staring at computer screens and wielding the keyboard or mouse. Research studies have established adequately that it would be inappropriate to introduce very young children to such activities.ICT,particularly computer literacy,should be avoided at the primary stage, says the report. It has suggested that ICT enabled teaching-learning should begin at the upper primary stage in schools where students are in a position to independently explore the world of information. Stressing that ICT use in education is currently show and tell and there is inappropriate emphasis on learning how to use computers,the report criticises that this limited view of ICT as a vehicle for computer literacy underplays the significance of large investments and potential of ICT in schools. Subsequently,it has recommended that besides teaching-learning,ICT must be used for development and sharing digital resources and for bringing efficiency and transparency in management and governance through automation of school processes. The panel has observed that the range of electronic resources and software applications made available in schools are grossly inappropriate and inadequate. They tend to support non-constructive methods and deny opportunities to children. The National Curriculum Framework clearly underscores the need for young children to deal with experiences derived from their immediate surroundings, it says. The sub-committee was formed to suggest guidelines for the use of ICT in school education,to suggest appropriate level for introduction of computer literacy in schools and appropriate student-computer ratio,among others. Critically examining the student-computer ratio,it says that a large number of students in schools have resulted in inadequate number of computer sessions for each student. It has pointed out the inability of the school system to provide the requisite number of computers appropriate for class strength. This has led to situations where many students share the computer at the same time,denying them any opportunity to interact with the medium directly.There is a need to specify a minimum computer access time for each student. It is recommended that school strength be used as a criterion while deciding on a quantum of resources, the report concludes. Stressing the limited ability of institutions to anchor ICT implementations,the panel has mooted that urgent measures be initiated to build their capacities,which includes training and enabling teachers to integrate ICT in teaching-learning. Other important issues to be discussed at the meeting include the proposed credit guarantee fund to ensure better flow of credit to deserving students and the proposed national mission on teachers to tackle the dearth of quality faculty.
