On 17 Sep 2002 09:10:01 +0530, "P. Sugathan" sugathan@nsc.ernet.in wrote:
The Kerala IT@School syllabus do mention about free software. But do they encourage using free software at school? The approach paper on IT@SCHOOL prepared by the Govt. do insist that, the computers bought by the school should have pre-installed Windows9x as operating system!!.So what is the point in telling the school children about philosophy of Free Software and asking them to work on proprietary Software.?
Yes, that does sound like a joke, doesn't it? Just goes to show what we are up against when dealing with an irrational Government bureaucracy :)
At this very moment, some free software advocates are seized of the matter of the curriculum and are planning to do something about it.
Nevertheless, the fact that a few pages on software freedom made their way into a school textbook for the first time (in India?) is quite an achievement don't you think? It will start those young minds thinking about it at least? And as has been stressed repeatedly on this list and elsewhere, letting people know about the philosophy of free software is far more important than getting them to use free software immediately. Once they are knowledgeable about software freedom and understand its implications, they will *ask* for free software. Perhaps the students, teachers and parents too will see through the irrationality of the syllabus?
Regards,