Students to get lessons in data breach, online privacy

Soon, the lessons from Facebook’s data breach row will be part of the learning process for select students across government schools in Ernakulam.

Empowering student users to be more in control of data privacy and exposing them to issues such as data breach and data misuse will be part of the latest edition of training under the e-jagrata project, a novel initiative launched by the Ernakulam district administration to ensure safe, secured and effective internet usage for schoolchildren.

“We will educate children on how to use the internet responsibly and train them in ensuring etiquette guidelines while communicating online. Our target is to take the e-jagrata programme to nearly 250 government and aided schools in Ernakulam by the academic year 2018-19,” said District Collector K. Mohammed Y. Safirulla, who conceived and spearheaded the unique initiative. The project is being implemented with the support of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and the State Bank of India (SBI).

Being vigilant

Stating that it is the responsibility of the district administration to empower the students on safe use of the internet, Mr. Safirulla pointed out that they needed to be more alert while disclosing personal details on social media. “They have to be vigilant about their online friends and be careful while making comments on various issues,” he said.

The students selected under the programme will receive training on the need to ensure safety and security while making financial transactions online. The master trainers will also educate them on topics such as e-commerce, artificial intelligence and cloud computing in the third phase of the e-jagrata initiative involving students of Classes 8 and 9 in government schools in Ernakulam.

In the first phase of e-jagrata, 101 government schools, and in the second phase, 161 aided schools were covered under the project. Ten schools found lacking in IT infrastructure were given 10 computers each as part of the third phase of e-jagrata in last July.

Besides setting up basic infrastructure comprising computer terminals, connectivity and supporting infrastructure, students were made aware of cyber laws and legal consequences of violation of cyber laws in the initial phase of the programme.