The Government of Kerala has announced they are going to be giving out Raspberry Pi kits to schoolchildren to encourage coding.
Raspberry Pi is a company that makes tiny computation devices aimed at teaching children to build programs from scratch. The device has been used all over the world and adapted in schools since their launch.
Here are the details of the Raspberry Pi:
Chief Minister Oomen Chandy announced the scheme on 19th of September, with the first batch of Raspberry Pis being given out to 2500 selected students, on the basis of merit. Gradually, however, the scheme is to be extended to all the students across state and government schools.
While it is great news for Indian education, and is a huge step for Kerala, which we have earlier argued is the greatest state in India, there is one worry.
Do we have enough qualified teachers so that the students make most of the devices? The aim of the project is to inculcate a sense of entrepreneurship and innovation among kids. It can’t be taught like regular subject.
And the last time an Indian official spoke about modern computing, this is what happened.
In case you missed the video, the gentleman says the problem with ‘Cloud Computing’ is that the data is stored in clouds. And what happens when there is rain? Or if the clouds move to another location?!?!
Great step, Kerala. And let’s hope the devices fall into the hands of the right teachers!
