Date:05/07/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/07/05/stories/2009070557040200.htm

Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi

“ICT can make education more effective”

Staff Reporter

It will become an essential tool for teaching: Vice Chancellor of Bharathidasan University

— Photo: R. Ashok

Valuable information: M. Ponnavaikko, Vice-Chancellor of Bharathidasan University, second from left, releasing a book on “ICT in School Education’ to K. Swaminathan, Chief Educational Officer, in Tiruchi on Saturday. From left, Leo Ananth J., Chairman, Confederation of Indian Industry, Tiruchi zone, K. Meena, Principal, Shrimathi Indira Gandhi College, and R. Guruchandran, Inspector of Matriculation Schools, look on.

TIRUCHI: Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is a vital tool to make education more effective and teachers should make use of ICT to make teaching learning process effective, the Vice Chancellor, Bharathidasan University M. Ponnavaikko said here on Saturday.

ICT is an effective media for communicating things and concepts that cannot be explained in words, he said while speaking at a programme for School Principals on the “Role of ICT and Soft Skills in enhancing the educational system” organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Tiruchi Zone.

Stating that ICT was an essential tool for teaching in future, Dr. Ponnavaikko said no teacher could be successful and effective without utilising ICT.

Urging the heads of institutions to convey to the teachers the importance of using ICT as part of teaching, the Vice Chancellor said that ICT training had become essential for everybody and more so for the teaching community today.

He said teachers were the key community in building a strong nation on all fronts.

Training for teachers and principals

The Bharathidasan University had planned to organise ICT-based training for college teachers and principals in the near future.

He called upon the CII to take initiatives in enhancing the skills of the rural masses since the overall development of the country depended on the growth of rural economy.

The CII, Tiruchi zone chairman, Leo Ananth J., said the country needed a huge force of innovators to develop further.

The education system should be in such a way that would enable students to realise what they were and what they need to achieve.

It should foster innovation and creativity that would elevate the country’s status further.

Quality education for future generation

The Chief Educational Officer, K. Swaminathan, said that in this information era teachers should also keep learning in order to provide quality education to the future generation.

The Principal, Shrimathi Indira Gandhi College, Tiruchi, Dr. K. Meena, said that ICT has a vital part to play in education – both in terms of making education more effective as well as in ensuring that the younger people play a full and equitable role in tomorrow’s world.

ICT also has a huge role in attracting children to the school besides creating excitement among them, Ms. Meena, also the chairperson of Education and Skill Development Panel, CII Tiruchi Zone, said.

Soft skills, a critical requirement

Soft skills have been identified to be the most critical requirement in the current global job market, she said adding that it incorporated all aspects of generic skills that includes cognitive elements associated with non-academic skills.

The Inspector of Matriculation Schools, Tiruchi district, R. Guruchandran, spoke on the occasion.

Earlier, the Vice Chancellor released a book on ICT in School Education in Tiruchi district brought out by the CII.