An exposure to computer education in pre-teens and teens can turn students into future innovators and disruptors. The Disruptive Digital Intervention (DDI), a joint initiative of Hyderabad Software Enterprises Association (HYSEA), NGO Nirmaan Organisation and the Telangana government, seeks to do just that.
HYSEA vice-president Bharani Kumar Aroll said the DDI was a result of deliberations with the officials of the Telangana government on providing computer education to students of government schools. As a part of this initiative, as many as 29 government schools, covering over 11,000 students across six districts of the State, now have digital labs.
“The computers have office productivity software, like MS Office,” Mr Aroll said, adding that basic HTML programming would also be taught. Students would also be able to ‘self-learn’ using the internet, he pointed out.
Mr Aroll explained that computer education at an early age will be more impactful than, for instance, at 20 years of age. “Digital labs are a separate area where we will have dedicated computers with dedicated trainer for each lab,” he said.
DDI programme head Venkat T. pointed out that these coordinators or instructors are trained for 10 days by subject matter experts. He added a support system has been created for both coordinators and students.
Mayur Patnala, founder and CEO of Nirmaan Organisation, said 5,665 students reached as part of the DDI initiative are from rural areas. As many as 4,738 are from urban areas. While 7.5% of the over 11,000 who have been reached are from minority communities, 5.5% belong to tribal communities.