Hello friends,

I got a chance to go through the text books of 8, 9 and 10th standard for IT @ School programme [Kerala]. I was very happy to see GNU/Linux every where with equal or more importance than windows. The book covers all basic functions like word processing, graphics processing ... But the fact is different from the text books.

Today I went to our nearby school to arrange a training programme for the teachers so that they get some confidence in what they teach. But what I learned from there is very disturbing. The higher authorities try to avoid GNU/Linux completely out of the picture by instructing the teachers to only teach Windows. They are gone so far as to tell them that since it is free software there are so many problems and they should not use it and they should not let the students use it either. One thing I could understand that though the teachers are interested they don't know the things and they don't feel the confidence to do it. So what we are planning is to give them training in GNU/Linux this vaction (December). I hope by sharing the experience and knowledge we posses to them we can help spreading the cause.

I hope all of us can do a better work in gong to the schools with our friends and help them understand the underlying philosophy as well as expertise so that we can spread the message of Free software and GNU. It is very important that the younger generation be aware of their options and choices. So this is a golden opportunity for every one of us to act. I hope we can make use of this opportunity to fulfil our dreams of free software and free society.

With love Praveen A