Intel inside TN school

Last week, Intel Corporation chief Craig R. Barrett and his pilot-politician wife, Barbara, drove through the gates of the Philomena8217;s ...

Last week, Intel Corporation chief Craig R. Barrett and his pilot-politician wife, Barbara, drove through the gates of the Philomena8217;s Girls8217; Higher Secondary School. By the time Barret left a couple of hours later, he made sure this school in Tindivanam, a remote town 125 km from Chennai in north Tamil Nadu, would be the site of an e-revolution, a sweeping effort to transform healthcare in rural India.

On Monday, Barret and Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss inaugurated a web-based programme that would help the administration at the district, state and national levels to monitor the health of school students all over the country.

Philomena8217;s, where Ramadoss did his primary education, will provide the blueprint for a nation-wide health monitoring programme for school students. About 20 computers in the school lab, five of them donated by Intel, will be used to key in vital health data of the students, including their height, weight and mid-arm measurements. The project, which will be managed entirely by the students, will help monitor their growth curve and keep a watch for signs of malnutrition.

8220;It is a technology that can connect this poor town to the world8217;s best health care system,8221; Barrett said at the inauguration. The Intel programme will use information and communications technologies to provide efficient and cost-effective healthcare for the weaker sections.

Intel8217;s partner, Tata Consultancy Services, trained about 30 teachers in the basics of storing data in computers. Principal Amali Ugini Mary said 500 of the school8217;s senior students had enrolled for the project and soon, over 2,700 students would sign up. Each student would be given a medical 8216;reference8217; card.

According to Dr. Sumanth Chakravarthy Raman of TCS, two students from each class were selected as primary monitors. With help from the teachers, they enter the health parameters of students in each class. The monthly report is then sent by e-mail to the district administration and the district health officer. This data is forwarded to the health, human resource and education ministries of the state and central governments. This data will also ensure that nutritional deficiencies, eyesight, height and weight of the students are constantly monitored.

8220;We hope this programme would extend to every school-going child and a national data base is built up,8221; Ramadoss had said on Monday. Intel India will support 50 such schools in Tamil Nadu as part of its school-health monitoring programme.

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Intel8217;s school health scheme here is funded from its India-specific fund of 1 billion of which 750 million is for R038;D, education and healthcare. Intel has trained 700,000 teachers in India to use IT technology.