Hi,
On 27 may 2016, Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education has given a reply to my notice. Maharashtra State Board was neglecting Open Source directives given by MHRD. Though the Circular in this regard was issued, it was published in the education booklet "Shikshan Sankraman" !. The circular as Important as this, which could have saved huge amounts for Schools, must have been given to Schools directly and it must have been given wide publicity in major news papers.
The Board's claim that by putting a note - "Schools and Colleges can use Open Source Software" on index page, they have followed directions given by MHRD is ridiculous. In the remaining pages of the reply, Board has given photocopies copies of the changes they have made in 2016-17 text books to be printed soon, and they have clarified further that Open Source can be used in "Theory as well as in Practicals" which is very important.
Note that MHRD has used the word "PREFER" while Board is cleverly using "CAN" !
Anyway, I assume that this is only a symbolic exit of Microsoft from State's Schools Education.
This covers State Schools and Junior Colleges in Maharashtra. But University Education too is compelling degree colleges to use proprietary software. Situation is somewhat better in Engineering courses but in the courses such as Computer Applications (TYBcom), there are softwares like MS Excel and Visual Basic. Also there are direct questions in the examination on the commands used in Excel and VB. I am going to send similar letter to Mumbai University too.
Also the course MS-ACIT has been made mandatory for teachers. This course is exclusively an advertisement of Microsoft and other other proprietary software. Since after removing proprietary software from school. This course, which itself is a violation of MHRD notification, becomes meaningless for teachers. Hence appropriate changes are necessary in this course curriculum. We have to follow this matter in Education Department.
I request all to help Schools in Maharashtra aware of the purpose and significance of this change and make open source movement stronger. Otherwise it will remain only on paper.
http://www.mediafire.com/view/seufdy593ocbaiu/Notice_To_SSC-HSC_Board.jpg http://www.mediafire.com/view/uccych8u0hnqt6g/Notice_To_SSC-HSC_Board_%28Rep... http://www.mediafire.com/download/nouxfd9a1hxnwd4/MHRD_-_Remove_Microsoft.pd...
-- Milind
Milind,
Congrats on your excellent follow-up. Every small victory matters. It is unfortunate that the people in government don't really care. Let us know what help you need from the community.
On 27 may 2016, Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education has given a reply to my notice. Maharashtra State Board was neglecting Open Source directives given by MHRD. Though the Circular in this regard was issued, it was published in the education booklet "Shikshan Sankraman" !. The circular as Important as this, which could have saved huge amounts for Schools, must have been given to Schools directly and it must have been given wide publicity in major news papers.
The Board's claim that by putting a note - "Schools and Colleges can use Open Source Software" on index page, they have followed directions given by MHRD is ridiculous. In the remaining pages of the reply, Board has given photocopies copies of the changes they have made in 2016-17 text books to be printed soon, and they have clarified further that Open Source can be used in "Theory as well as in Practicals" which is very important.
Note that MHRD has used the word "PREFER" while Board is cleverly using "CAN" !
Anyway, I assume that this is only a symbolic exit of Microsoft from State's Schools Education.
This covers State Schools and Junior Colleges in Maharashtra. But University Education too is compelling degree colleges to use proprietary software. Situation is somewhat better in Engineering courses but in the courses such as Computer Applications (TYBcom), there are softwares like MS Excel and Visual Basic. Also there are direct questions in the examination on the commands used in Excel and VB. I am going to send similar letter to Mumbai University too.
Also the course MS-ACIT has been made mandatory for teachers. This course is exclusively an advertisement of Microsoft and other other proprietary software. Since after removing proprietary software from school. This course, which itself is a violation of MHRD notification, becomes meaningless for teachers. Hence appropriate changes are necessary in this course curriculum. We have to follow this matter in Education Department.
I request all to help Schools in Maharashtra aware of the purpose and significance of this change and make open source movement stronger. Otherwise it will remain only on paper.
http://www.mediafire.com/view/seufdy593ocbaiu/Notice_To_SSC-HSC_Board.jpg http://www.mediafire.com/view/uccych8u0hnqt6g/Notice_To_SSC-HSC_Board_%28Rep... http://www.mediafire.com/download/nouxfd9a1hxnwd4/MHRD_-_Remove_Microsoft.pd...
Thanks Rushabh. Since goal of FOSS activist or FOSS supporting people is unique, everyone can offer little help in his/her own way. Only using linux individually is a great thing but that is not enough. IMHO we should try to increase number of linux installations especially in schools, colleges and government organizations.
In schools, the hurdle I noted was fear of schools/parents that direct questions would be asked in the examination on proprietary software. Now that this hurdle is removed, at least in State Schools of Maharashtra, you can convince parents or school managements not to spend money on acquiring licenses of these products. AFAIK, CBSE curriculum is based on open source softwares. So you can also request CBSE schools to use FOSS and not to purchase proprietary products.
I have just installed linux in the house of one 10th std student by convincing his parents.
I have also contacted Managements of two schools in Thane. I offered free help in computerizing result processing for them. (At present they are doing the work manually). After that I informed them about FOSS and requested to give two Machines where I would install linux. Work would be done in libre base giving teachers proper training. Eventually the school teachers would do the work independently and also can give training to other schools in their vicinity (if they wish). Of course a long term plan. There seems no short cut.
I could get support from 4 more people who are retired and know computers little bit. Five of us would start this pilot project from coming academic year.
Eradicating proprietary software from University Curriculum is a tough task. We need to get directions from UGC or MHRD in this regard. In the prestigious Digital India Project, Open Source plays a leading role (at least on paper !), so one has to exploit it in our favor and get such directions. Any suggestions in this regard are welcome. (till then PIL is the only hope where this is one of the prayers !)
You can have your own ideas, perhaps more effective than mine. Please do share them here.
On Wednesday 01 June 2016 11:12 AM, Rushabh Mehta wrote:
Milind,
Congrats on your excellent follow-up. Every small victory matters. It is unfortunate that the people in government don't really care. Let us know what help you need from the community.
On Sat, Jun 4, 2016 at 11:08 AM, Milind Oka oak445@gmail.com wrote:
I could get support from 4 more people who are retired and know computers little bit. Five of us would start this pilot project from coming academic year.
Where about in Thane?
I am available, 4 days a week.
Hi Guys,
Even I can put my efforts just let me know the timing and place, I can give some helping hands :)
On 04-Jun-2016, at 7:44 PM, J T Dsouza jtd1959@gmail.com wrote:
On Sat, Jun 4, 2016 at 11:08 AM, Milind Oka oak445@gmail.com wrote:
I could get support from 4 more people who are retired and know computers little bit. Five of us would start this pilot project from coming academic year.
Where about in Thane?
I am available, 4 days a week.
--
Cheers, Ashish Jaiswal
Thank you so much JT and Ashish !
One school is General Education Scociety's M H High School (This management has few more schools, including Chabildas at Dadar) Another one is Shiv Samarth Vidyalya. Both are at Walkable Distance from Thane Station (W).
We had a preliminary meeting in the month of May with Vice Principals and few teachers who are in the result process. They have given sample photocopies of the last result documents (which were made by hand). So we have to plan accordingly. Soon after the school opens on 15th June, we will again arrange a meeting to discuss the details and plan accordingly. Please be ready with your ideas and do join us in the next meeting.
Thank you once again.
--- Milind
On Saturday 04 June 2016 07:44 PM, J T Dsouza wrote:
On Sat, Jun 4, 2016 at 11:08 AM, Milind Oka oak445@gmail.com wrote:
I could get support from 4 more people who are retired and know computers little bit. Five of us would start this pilot project from coming academic year.
Where about in Thane?
I am available, 4 days a week.
Great. Just give me the head’s up!!
On 04-Jun-2016, at 9:55 PM, Milind Oka oak445@gmail.com wrote:
Thank you so much JT and Ashish !
One school is General Education Scociety's M H High School (This management has few more schools, including Chabildas at Dadar) Another one is Shiv Samarth Vidyalya. Both are at Walkable Distance from Thane Station (W).
We had a preliminary meeting in the month of May with Vice Principals and few teachers who are in the result process. They have given sample photocopies of the last result documents (which were made by hand). So we have to plan accordingly. Soon after the school opens on 15th June, we will again arrange a meeting to discuss the details and plan accordingly. Please be ready with your ideas and do join us in the next meeting.
Thank you once again.
--- Milind
On Saturday 04 June 2016 07:44 PM, J T Dsouza wrote:
On Sat, Jun 4, 2016 at 11:08 AM, Milind Oka oak445@gmail.com wrote:
I could get support from 4 more people who are retired and know computers little bit. Five of us would start this pilot project from coming academic year.
Where about in Thane?
I am available, 4 days a week.
Cheers, Ashish Jaiswal
On Saturday 04 June 2016 09:55 PM, Milind Oka wrote:
Thank you so much JT and Ashish !
One school is General Education Scociety's M H High School (This management has few more schools, including Chabildas at Dadar) Another one is Shiv Samarth Vidyalya. Both are at Walkable Distance from Thane Station (W).
We had a preliminary meeting in the month of May with Vice Principals and few teachers who are in the result process. They have given sample photocopies of the last result documents (which were made by hand). So we have to plan accordingly. Soon after the school opens on 15th June, we will again arrange a meeting to discuss the details and plan accordingly. Please be ready with your ideas and do join us in the next meeting.
Thank you once again.
--- Milind
Very Nice initiative. Milind,
We have recently created school server with some useful free (open source) software as well as a course creation and course player software with offline content of http://nroer.gov.in/ and many other useful things.
We have also created a DVD customized for schools with curated software. It will be nice to use them
We need some help in creating a docker image of osm and wikipedia. If any of you can help, that will also go to several schools in India.
We are currently working in about 1000 schools in four states. I will be very happy to provide the docker images and USB drive images so that the process is easy to install.
-- GN
Thank you so much JT and Ashish !
One school is General Education Scociety's M H High School (This management has few more schools, including Chabildas at Dadar) Another one is Shiv Samarth Vidyalya. Both are at Walkable Distance from Thane Station (W).
I have also volunteered in my daughter's school and am pushing them to adopt Linux (Elementary OS) for their new computer lab.
Also teaching them a bit of code (Python)
https://medium.com/@rushabh_mehta/teaching-python-to-school-kids-76e86e24906...
We have recently created school server with some useful free (open source) software as well as a course creation and course player software with offline content of http://nroer.gov.in/ http://nroer.gov.in/ and many other useful things.
We have also created a DVD customized for schools with curated software. It will be nice to use them
Interesting - but this is still content, maybe we can put together a resourcekit that we can then forward to schools.
I am due a session with the school on getting them started on ElementaryOS. I will keep listing stuff as I go along.
best, Rushabh
Hi all,
In reply to my letter, SSC/HSC board had assured to implement the open source policy in School Education. (Letter dated 19-05-2016) They only put footnotes in Syllabus that "open source software can be used in the ICT". Of course convincing Schools and Jr Colleges to adopt FOSS on the basis of this letter and footnotes would not have been possible. So I called it as "Symbolic Exit of Microsoft".
But I am too happy to inform you that on 1 July 2016 a proper circular was released which instructs schools and Jr colleges to prefer FOSS in clear words. I came to know about it through an HT article (Thanks to Dr Kamath, and to Prof Tayyab Ali for pointing out this article). Consequently "Maharashtra Times" published another one.
I suppose this clears the most important hurdle in proliferation of FOSS.
Its great that we have started the monthly meetings at right time. In the first meeting, we talked about visiting Schools and Colleges. With this circular in hand Schools, Students and Parents are little more likely to adopt FOSS. Also students can now participate in our FOSS Projects (we have planned this in first meeting) without dilemma as there will be no proprietary names in Text Books and in question paper.
I am thankful to all members of this group and especially old members for keeping us all connected for such a long time and for always encouraging new members like me.
I take this opportunity to congratulate State Board for taking this decision in favor of FOSS.
Links for two news paper articles and the circular :
http://www.mediafire.com/view/4nqamkqxy2ps03i/HT-1-5-17.jpg http://www.mediafire.com/view/f4nhepll68s8fyy/MATA-2-5-17.jpg http://www.mediafire.com/file/a6410kf396tkuyl/Board_Circular_-_1_July_2016.p...
Thanks and Regards Milind ----------------------------------------------- Forwarding the old relevant thread for reference.
-------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: Re: [ILUG-BOM] Exit Of Microsoft from School Education ? Date: Wed, 1 Jun 2016 11:12:02 +0530 From: Rushabh Mehta rmehta@gmail.com Reply-To: GNU/Linux Users Group, Mumbai, India linuxers@mm.ilug-bom.org.in To: GNU/Linux Users Group, Mumbai, India linuxers@mm.ilug-bom.org.in
Milind,
Congrats on your excellent follow-up. Every small victory matters. It is unfortunate that the people in government don't really care. Let us know what help you need from the community.
On 27 may 2016, Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education has given a reply to my notice. Maharashtra State Board was neglecting Open Source directives given by MHRD. Though the Circular in this regard was issued, it was published in the education booklet "Shikshan Sankraman" !. The circular as Important as this, which could have saved huge amounts for Schools, must have been given to Schools directly and it must have been given wide publicity in major news papers.
The Board's claim that by putting a note - "Schools and Colleges can use Open Source Software" on index page, they have followed directions given by MHRD is ridiculous. In the remaining pages of the reply, Board has given photocopies copies of the changes they have made in 2016-17 text books to be printed soon, and they have clarified further that Open Source can be used in "Theory as well as in Practicals" which is very important.
Note that MHRD has used the word "PREFER" while Board is cleverly using "CAN" !
Anyway, I assume that this is only a symbolic exit of Microsoft from State's Schools Education.
This covers State Schools and Junior Colleges in Maharashtra. But University Education too is compelling degree colleges to use proprietary software. Situation is somewhat better in Engineering courses but in the courses such as Computer Applications (TYBcom), there are softwares like MS Excel and Visual Basic. Also there are direct questions in the examination on the commands used in Excel and VB. I am going to send similar letter to Mumbai University too.
Also the course MS-ACIT has been made mandatory for teachers. This course is exclusively an advertisement of Microsoft and other other proprietary software. Since after removing proprietary software from school. This course, which itself is a violation of MHRD notification, becomes meaningless for teachers. Hence appropriate changes are necessary in this course curriculum. We have to follow this matter in Education Department.
I request all to help Schools in Maharashtra aware of the purpose and significance of this change and make open source movement stronger. Otherwise it will remain only on paper.
http://www.mediafire.com/view/seufdy593ocbaiu/Notice_To_SSC-HSC_Board.jpg http://www.mediafire.com/view/uccych8u0hnqt6g/Notice_To_SSC-HSC_Board_%28Rep... http://www.mediafire.com/download/nouxfd9a1hxnwd4/MHRD_-_Remove_Microsoft.pd...
On Wed, May 3, 2017 at 12:36 PM, Milind Oka oak445@gmail.com wrote:
Hi all,
In reply to my letter, SSC/HSC board had assured to implement the open source policy in School Education. (Letter dated 19-05-2016) They only put footnotes in Syllabus that "open source software can be used in the ICT". Of course convincing Schools and Jr Colleges to adopt FOSS on the basis of this letter and footnotes would not have been possible. So I called it as "Symbolic Exit of Microsoft".
First of all congratulations on your achievement; keep carrying the torch of enlightenment!
Rather than say "Symbolic Exit of Microsoft" (it won't happen) I would rather say it is "One big step for FOSS kind" (modified quote of Astronaut Neil Armstrong walking on the moon) in the Maharashtra Secondary School. The FOSS community has to show an "alternate technology." To pique the interests of the young minds, we need to show them the value (monetary benefits). Only then will they accept it i.e. well paying jobs with Python/PHP etc. skill set with companies like Google, FB, Amazon, Flipkart etc. Throwing an idea -- let them create their own web site with a small CMS and see the results.
IMHO, stay away from points like it is *free* -- most people don't care (from my experience).
My two cents.
Best -- Arun Khan
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Arun Khan -
Ashish -
GN -
J T Dsouza -
Milind Oka -
Rushabh Mehta