The Hindu Business Line : Striving for e-literacy

By focusing on e-literacy Kerala has re-asserted its commitment to maintaining a superior quality of life for its citizens, while continuing to provide a model for other developing regions.

WHEN Bill Gates, Chairman and Chief Software Architect of Microsoft Corporation, visited India last fortnight, the only State in south India that failed to grab his attention was Kerala. The other three - Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh - all managed to make some sort of pitch to sell their States' prowess or potential in information technology (IT) and e-related matters to the chief honcho of the world's largest software company. If Kerala failed to make any impression whatsoever, there is more than a grain of truth in the critics' assertion that the State is still a laggard in the IT world.

So, it was a kind of consolation to read last week's statement by the Public Works Minister M.K. Muneer, as reported in The Hindu. "The situation is such that those who does not move along with technical progress will be marginalised. We will not be able to grow along with the world if we miss the leap in Information Technology. Now, computers have become an essential part of everyday life," he said.

The Minister was inaugurating the e-literacy campaign undertaken as part of the Akshaya project, at a function at Ulliyeri panchayat in Kozhikode district. The project is expected to benefit close to 6 lakh people in the 78 panchayats and municipalities of Koyilandy and Vadakara and the Kozhikode Corporation. The project will train one person from each house in the district for one-and-a-half hours for 10 days.

However noble these intentions are, the danger is that they may well end up in the morass of bureaucratic goal scoring. If Kerala, in keeping with its traditions of a radically different development trajectory, hopes to percolate e-literacy to the grassroots, then it has to necessarily think beyond the ordinary. Rather than set up mere e-literacy `boxes' - essentially, a module of a computer, a modem and a dialup Internet connection, with possibly an assistant to help users - Kerala should think of "information commons". These, as defined by S. Beatty and P. White in a paper in the Journal of eLiteracy, are "integrated learning facilities, where the user can receive assistance in acquiring information literacy skills and/or technical literacy skills or `e-lit skills'."

More importantly, the key philosophy of the information commons approach ties in with Kerala's ongoing exercise in reviving the library as a focal point of learning in schools. As the authors of the study say, "The pervasive nature of technology and the ready access to information over the Internet led to a conclusion by many people that a library would no longer be needed. In response and to counteract this belief, administrators identified an enhanced role for the library, one that would ultimately align it more closely with the primary goal of the academy: learning. The Information Commons seemed to offer this opening... Equally, and perhaps more importantly for administrators, early evidence indicated that the Commons could be instrumental in reviving the life of the library."

As the world struggles to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted at the Millennium Declaration of the United Nations in 2000, the power of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to contribute has never been clearer.

Greater and equitable access to ICTs can improve farming practices, support micro-entrepreneurs, help prevent AIDS and other communicable diseases, promote women's equality, and further environmental protection.

By focusing on e-literacy Kerala has re-asserted its commitment to maintaining a superior quality of life for its citizens, while continuing to provide a model for other developing regions.

The writer can be contacted at kgkumar@gmail.com

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