Executive Summary
Public Education in India
Edtech in India
Data Governance in Education - Opportunities
Appendix
Toolkit
What did Covid teach us? Most states had to fast-forward their adoption of technology to provide remote learning at scale. Lo-fi tools like WhatsApp were also used to reach the last mile. Industry experts are confident that this has reduced the resistance to change: administrators are more willing to digitise their processes, having seen the benefits of edtech during Covid. But it is prudent to remember that India still grapples with an immense digital divide. Most people don't have access to proper connectivity and devices. 40-70% of the country’s children don’t have a smartphone or computer at home.[1] This needs to be taken into account while designing interventions.
Broad Outlook
The government’s Digital India Campaign has provided great impetus to the adoption of technology in all sectors including education. The National Education Policy 2020 was positive that ‘new technologies involving artificial intelligence, machine learning, block chains, smart boards, handheld computing devices and other forms of educational software and hardware will not just change what students learn in the classroom but how they learn [too].[2] This call for digital transformation is not supported by robust data policies though.
Image credit: youtube.com
Free and Open Source Software
Most states procure edtech from not-for-profits, start-ups, or big tech. But in the recent past, some like Kerala have moved away from this vendor model to develop their own digital solutions with free and open source software (FOSS). FOSS can be installed on multiple computers without a license fee. It is also easy to customise the end product for specific needs. This enables decentralisation, where the FOSS application can be used throughout the supply network, right upto the end educator in far flung villages. During emergencies, the government can also respond faster, because it is not dependent on an external partner.
Image credit: indiaeducationdiary.in
Click here to read our case study on KITE to know more.
Kerala established KITE to digitise its education sector in 2001. Over the years this project has grown to include a school management system that covers the entire state, with auxiliary programmes. KITE reached 93% of Kerala’s children during the pandemic – a feat others struggled to achieve. What did it get right? Here are a few lessons from KITE’s journey so far.
- KITE uses FOSS that is cost-effective, customisable and therefore scalable. It functions as a special company under the state, which allows for agency with alignment.
- KITE’s learning content is developed in-house with a strong pedagogical base, to rhyme with the state vision for education.
- Right from the start, selected teachers were trained to implement IT interventions in their schools following the philosophy of ‘empowered, not specialised’. KITE took a systems approach to capacity building and also educated the state’s students and their mothers on cyber security and etiquette. This is particularly relevant given that parents have a big say in the edtech ecosystem. Scroll to our last section for further information.
- KITE has a streamlined process for data sharing. Administrators only get to see what is useful for their role. In some cases they are simply provided a synthesized report to protect raw data.
- Indian bureaucrats are generalists. They move from one sector to another throughout their career. But KITE is different. It started out with a ten-year mission statement that has been carried out by a dedicated team that accrued expertise over time. The company’s old guard has kept itself abreast with the latest developments in the sector, which increases their bargaining power.
‘We had to partner with Google during the pandemic, we made our stand very clear. No personal details of any student can be collected. We also demanded master control over the platform (which is not easy to get in a partnership with big tech). And the agreement was vetted by a solicitor from the Supreme Court.’ SENIOR OFFICIAL FROM KITE
Personalised Adaptive Learning (PAL)
In this section, we will focus on two examples of edtech that are pertinent to the Indian context starting with Personalised Adaptive Learning (PAL). PAL uses artificial intelligence to address the challenges.
Students are given a series of tests to determine their current level of subject-knowledge based on which the software presents customised content to them. Most companies invest heavily in the user experience to ensure stickiness. Interactive games, multimedia, and real-time feedback are used to also counter rote learning. More importantly though the algorithm dynamically adjusts its outputs according to the child’s progress. They can therefore learn at their pace: a privilege that the conventional system doesn't accord.
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Click here to read our case study on Mindspark to know more.
Mindspark
The computer lab at Churu’s public school in Rajasthan was set up recently. You can tell because the hand painted sign at the entrance is still fresh. It is a simple room; a neat row of laptops is set up against the wall with small stools. The windows are shut, and the keypads are covered in plastic to protect the machines from dust-laden heat. (The hardware has to be handled with care for it is publicly procured. It does not belong to the school.) Someone has written “Mindspark'' in a fancy style on the blackboard.
Mindspark is a grant-funded project on adaptive learning that was sanctioned by the state government in 2017. Each child is allotted a laptop where they learn Math and English on an AI-enabled software that provides lessons at their level. The school has benefited from Mindspark – the students are more confident now – but implementing it is not without challenges.
Mindspark conducts an orientation for teachers at each project site, to introduce them to data-informed decision making. They are expected to integrate new technologies into their routine but the government does not have a requisite capacity building programme for them. Furthermore, data is viewed with apprehension: it can be used for punitive purposes, to blame and shame the staff. This, amongst other reasons, makes teachers wary of edtech.
“I used to be at the head of the class; all my students would look at me. Now, they don’t ask me anything - they look at the walls [where the computers are] and learn. I don’t even have a desk for myself at the lab.” TEACHER FROM A MINDSPARK SCHOOL
School Management Systems
As explained in the previous section India’s learning challenges are linked to resource constraints. The staff and infrastructure in public schools are stretched thin. And the situation has not improved, partly because of data gaps.
The public system generates copious amounts of data on schools. But this information is prone to errors, delays, and corruption because it is manually collected and digitised. It is also fragmented, which deters timely analysis. For example, a student’s attendance is kept separate from their performance record. By the time this data is compiled and translated into a report it becomes redundant. To make matters worse it is rarely returned to those on the ground: educators don't benefit from the datasets they help create. This is another ripe opportunity for edtech as Sunbird’s case study shows.
Image credit: Jan Banning’s Bureaucratics
Click here to read our case study on cQube by Sunbird to know more.
EkStep Foundation has developed a set of modular blocks called Sunbird that can be configured by any service provider to create technology solutions for different domains of education.
In 2017 the central government used Sunbird to build a consolidated platform for knowledge sharing called DIKSHA. Think of it as a one-stop shop for schools, where different states can upload e-content for students, and teacher trainings. Internet search is not an instinctive habit for most Indians so the learning material had to be served in a more direct way. DIKSHA therefore uses ‘energised textbooks’ with QR codes to meet students where they are. The user journey is designed such that their parents can download and store content on low-end phones.
EkStep’s follows a lean data policy for DIKSHA and otherwise. Children are not expected to provide any login details to use the above mentioned textbooks. This project has gained some traction because it is front-facing. But Sunbird’s digital solution for the messier back office is equally noteworthy.
cQube, another building block in its repertoire, is meant for administrators. It enables better decision making by ingesting data from the existing, disparate sources. Each dataset is checked for errors and processed to provide the end user with neat charts and graphs that they can toggle around with. For instance, they can plot a school’s staff attendance against its academic progress with a simple click. This kind of analysis can be done at the district, block, cluster, and school level. Analysts can also download raw files to conduct their own research.