Digital literacy training for government school teachers in Tiruvallur launched

Digital literacy training for government school teachers in Tiruvallur launched

The need for digital literacy has increased in recent years. Hence, in a move to bridge the gap, the non-governmental organisation (NGO), Asha For Education, has launched a programme to teach computer science to government school students in Tiruvallur. The programme was inaugurated at the Government High School in Tirupatchur by district education officer Mohana.

Titled ‘Asha Computer Education’ (ACE), the pilot project will help 52 teachers from government schools to facilitate a one-year computer science curriculum to students of Class VI to Class IX. The organisation has entered into an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the school education department in this regard. The project will be funded by Amazon under its Amazon Future Engineer programme.

Interested teachers from these schools will undergo training in computer science by NGO educators who will then impart it to students. The teachers have been provided with laptops to learn and teach the children. Schools lacking or with inoperative computers will also be provided with three laptops that students can use.

The aim of the project is digital literacy and practicality. The curriculum, with 36 lessons, has been designed in two parts. In the first part, students will learn the practical aspects of it such as logging in, parts of a computer etc. In the second part, they will learn Powerpoint presentation, excel sheets and others, said Rajaraman Krishnan, the organisation’s Chennai coordinator.

The teachers training will be done in four sessions. Over the next year the teachers will teach the students. The students will have 12 weeks of project work to complete once theory is taught, he added. Asha trainers will visit these schools monthly to make sure that the program is implemented well and also provide support.

Speaking about the importance of computer education, Tiruvallur district chief education officer Saraswathi said, “It has become more important than ever for students to learn digital literacy. The teachers should utilise the opportunity. This can pave the way for its introduction in all schools in Tiruvallur and Tamil Nadu.”

One of the beneficiaries of the project, Valliyammal, headmistress, Panchayat Union Middle School, Thaneerkulam, said: “Being trained has helped me immensely with being able to navigate the educational management information system of the State government.”