Minister announces 'Vision 2010'

By Our Special Correspondent

KOCHI, APRIL 28. The Education Minister, Mr. P.J. Joseph, today announced `Vision 2010' which envisaged total overhaul of the education sector in the State tapping the vast potential of Information Technology.

The Minister who returned from Hyderabad after meeting IT experts told a news conference here that a four-member expert committee would submit a blueprint before June 15 in this regard. The former chairman of the ISRO, Prof. U.R. Rao, would head the panel which will have as its members Mr. Kiran Karthik, managing director of Discovery Channel (New Delhi), Dr. T.H. Chaudhury, IT Advisor to the Andhra Pradesh Government, and Mr. K. Jayakumar, General Education Secretary of the Kerala Government who would be the member-secretary.

The Minister said the high-level expert committee on educational vision for Kerala would have the following probable terms of reference: Evaluation of the current scenario (assessment of the current status of education in Kerala); assessment of future trends (educational demands and requirements of the present decade, emerging technological opportunities in the area of education, IT as part of the curriculum, IT-enabled education); formulation of a vision (overall vision and objectives to realise a knowledge-based society by 2010) and an overall agenda of action.

The Minister announced the starting of degree course on IT this academic year at three centres with the assistance from the Indira Gandhi National Open University. The centres would be started in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode. The degree course started as part of the distant learning educational programmes would have 1,000 seats in the Government sector.

For the existing course in the country, there were only 2,000 seats at present, he pointed out.

Answering a question, the Minister said the Government has already decided to make computer education part of the school curriculum from 2001. Nearly 50,000 teachers are to be trained for this and already 10,000 have completed training with technical inputs from the Microsoft Corporation.

To begin with computer course would be introduced in the Seventh standard and would be extended both ways.

A national computer workshop is being convened in Thiruvananthapuram from May 21 to 23 to which all the leading computer manufacturers and companies would be invited.

A common module for teachers' training would be prepared during the workshop.

The Minister said a Post Graduate diploma course in computer would be started in all the ITIs in the State with the help of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.

Mr. Joseph said the manpower requirement was 1.5 million in IT- related field in the country in the next couple of years. The Government is thinking of introducing the `Fourth R' training at the pre-primary level when children would be introduced to video games and easy-to-learn computer technics.

The Virtual Campus education scheme sponsored by the U.K. Government would also be introduced in educational institutions in the next academic year, the Minister said.

He said that from the next academic year, BEd degree would be made compulsory for appointment of upper primary English and Mathematics teachers.

Now the minimum qualification required is only a certificate of the Teachers Training Course. He said the Dr. Gopalan Committee suggesting changes in the Kerala Educational Rules would submit its report within three weeks.

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