Students have computers, but not enough coaching

Despite getting laptops as part of government schemes, students who pass out of Chennai schools, both government and government-aided are still not on par with those in the private schools, say government school teachers. 

Students meanwhile claim that even after joining college they find it difficult to use simple Apps and software; many struggle to format an Excel document. The school labs, students say, are reserved for Computer Science students exclusively for learning the subject and not accessible to everyone. 

Shakthivel (19), grew up in Harur in Dharmapuri with dreams of making in big in the design field. Thinking that with a degree in hand he could get his dream job, he enrolled for a degree in VisCom at a city college.

“I studied in a Tamil medium government aided school in my hometown. I had opted for Biology and Mathematics in Class 11 and 12. There were around 200 students in my batch. Our lab had 20-25 computers. We were allowed just one period for learning computer where it was purely subject-based teaching. Teachers did not want complaints of a student being allowed to spend more time in front of the computer, so we were all restricted to the stipulated time.” 

It was when he joined college that Shakthivel realised how advanced his counterparts were in computers and various software. He was apprehensive of being bullied for being ignorant. “There we so many education Apps and software I was ignorant about. I was embarrassed to even ask my friends or teachers for help,” he says. 

Faculty member of Viscom in PSG College in Coimbatore, Ramaprabha says such students only have a moderate knowledge of working on computers. “They struggle when it comes to uploading or downloading something from the internet. I usually ask them to submit assignments or take tests on education App Edmodo which such students were unaware of. It is because of their socio-economic condition-- they lack the access to it. Now, with just a computer you cannot stay updated; you also need Wi-Fi or an internet connection to learn something or even download a software to learn how to use it. They do not know, because they do not have such facilities,” she says. 

The head of the Commerce department in a city college, on condition of anonymity said, “I teach computing to Commerce students and I have seen them struggle with Word and Excel. They make a number of grammatical and formatting errors while working. We can see a stark difference between them and their counterparts from other private schools.”

How will these students improve themselves and catch up with their batchmates? 

Principal of a Government-aided school in Velachery, Sister Regi, said, “The school lab with 20 odd computers are used by 57 Computer Science students of Class 11 and 12. They are taught what is in the syllabus and nothing outside of it. Others who want to hone their computer skills will have to take extra courses in private centres.” 

Meanwhile, some NGOs are coming up with ways to help school students come up to speed. P Natarajan who runs Namma Ooru Foundation, a non-government organisation said, “We believe that e-learning is the way forward and so we have distributed our e-learning content to schools in Kottur, Kovalam and Yelagiri for free. Students from Class 3 to Class 12 can download and use the tests, games and quizzes which is related to their subjects. These schools have various challenges in equipping the students fully including lack of computers in labs, absence of Wi-Fi etc. They also need the willingness to take e-learning seriously.’ 

When contacted about the issue, Deputy Commissioner of Education, Govinda Rao said educating students on how to use the computer has immense scope and that the education department was working on it. “In this year’s budget we have a proposal to have internet facility in 281 Corporation schools. But, we still have to a long way,” he said.