Aliya Abreu
Panaji
Raspberry Pi (RPi) Technology could well be the solution to the state’s computer education woes, with three rural schools already introducing the technology in their computer labs successfully and labs of another five schools set to have it functional in the coming month.
The RPi, which is a cost-effective, micro-computer, widely known to be credit card sized, replaces the traditional Computer Processing Unit (CPU), while being four to five times cheaper, costing between Rs 3,000 to 4,500. Students of the three schools currently using the technology - St Bartholomew’s High School (Chorao), Azmane High School (Neura), and Dayanand Bandodkar High School (Quepem) - face relief as far as computer education is concerned, as computer classes are now hands-on.
However, most other rural schools in the state are still waiting for such an opportunity to come their way, as the government provided systems, which are over a decade old, have been dysfunctional for a few years now.
The main problem that schools face are that 70 to 80 per cent of CPUs - the brain of the computer - have all died out, with the monitors, keyboards and mouse being largely functional. The RPi, which replaces the CPU, takes care of this problem.
The technology, which was developed in the UK by the RPi Foundation specifically for the purpose of facilitating computer education in developed countries, was first taken to schools by the Chorao-based start-up Uzoorba Technologies.
Founder of Uzoorba, Vincent Tuscano, first approached St Bartholomew’s with the idea as part of the company’s social initiative GEIT (Goans Empowered with Information Technology.) Since then, he has been offering the service commercially to make it sustainable.
Talking to ‘The Goan’, Tuscano explained that he took up the project as hands-on computer education was not happening in most Goan schools. “Very often, the computer teacher is teaching on the lone surviving computer in the school while the students simply watch,” said Tuscano. “If computer education is not hands-on, it is useless. Computers are to be used for creative, productive
output,” he added.
With RPi Technology, FOSS (Free Open Source Software) is compatible, which means that schools would no longer need licensed Windows and Microsoft Office and pay a huge sum for the same, which makes RPi even more viable.
Vittoba Dessai, President of Goa Headmasters’ Association, under which around 300 government aided schools fall, lamented that even after approaching the Directorate of Education and the Chief Minister himself several times in this regard, there was no response from the government.
