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need for computer literacy in india
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Need for Computer Literacy in India “The future of any nation is directly measured by the computer literacy of its people” As we look forward to the dawn of a new century and the beginning of a new millennium. The forces of globalization have enveloped most countries in the present-day world. Globalization is reinforcing and accentuating the existing unequal relationships of power and income between the first world and the other economies. The rich are becoming richer and the poor are getting pauperized. Alongside, the massive upheaval that globalization has brought about, engulfing substantial sections of the global community, albeit in different ways and at an uneven pace, revolutions in information technology are ushering in an information age that will intensify global interconnectedness on the one hand. On the other, what we are witnessing is the widening of the gap between the information rich and the information deprived, both at the international, national and community levels. In India, the full impact of globalization has not been experienced so far. However, as the march towards economic restructuring continues relentlessly, there are fast developing changes that are bringing about important transformations at various levels. The signs of marginalisation of vast sections of the Indian population in terms of growing disparities in income, health care facilities, educational opportunities and other measures of human well being are becoming increasingly manifest. Overcoming this process of marginalisation requires concerted efforts on many fronts; political, social, economic and educational. One important element of such efforts is the provision of Basic Computer Education to all persons. In the nations 50 years of planned growth, more than half of the total population in India are still illiterate and continue to live under the poverty line. The rate of literacy has more than doubled between 1961 and 1991; yet half of the population is still illiterate. The school drop out rate is almost 50% and is more in case of females. Analising the present situation it goes without saying that, the importance of computer literacy, and awareness for socio-economic development is highly essential. By the turn of the century, India will be the world’s most illiterate nation, says UNICEF. Two-thirds of the total numbers of illiterates in India are women. The country has the maximum number of school dropouts and every third illiterate in the world is an Indian according to the UNICEF. With 48 percent of the Indian population being illiterate, and 100 million school age children not getting a schooling, there is broad policy consensus that the only way India will get educated is if IT is used to deliver it. But cost and technology choice issues are still big hurdles to the IT enablement of Indian education. India spends a mere 3.8 percent of its GDP on education, compared to 9 percent in many developed nations, and 6 percent on average for the world as a whole. Not surprisingly then, some 45 percent of India’s population is still illiterate and an estimated 100 million school age children either never go to school or drop out before finishing. The key question is -Can IT deliver education to India. For many Indians who live in the rural areas, there is no hope, new or old. Their supposed benefits of freedom are illusory. In their world, despair rules. They aren't educated and so they can't get jobs beyond the most menial and low paying, and there aren't many of those. Without jobs they can't earn money. Without money, they endure living conditions that are deplorable. Perhaps the worst aspect is that the affluence of others confronts them daily on television, but they can't have it. They would like to enjoy the pleasures offered on the screen, but most can never have enough money unless they steal or deal drugs. The problems are cancerous and will continue to grow until something meaningful is done. COMPUTER LITERACY & ALLEVIATION OF POVERTY -Computer Literacy can be used as an instrument for increasing production and efficiency through the promotion of training and vocational skills. This is the only way to inter-link literacy and alleviation of poverty. When literacy programme is linked with schemes aiming at the eradication of poverty, the poor people will definitely have a genuine interest in literacy programme. Their interest in computer literacy can be aroused only by ensuring that literacy will enable them to lead a better life. It can break the nexus between ignorance and poverty that, according to Swami Vivekananda, are the two basic sin in life. Therefore literacy work must be made life centered and poverty must be eliminated with the help of literacy. Poverty alleviating programmes in the country are the first level of response to overcome the problem. Computer Illiteracy has no future but it will, like poverty - be a feature in most developing countries for the foreseeable future. The struggle for computer literacy is a struggle against poverty and hence simultaneously for social and economic development, justice, equality, respect for traditional cultures & recognition of the dignity of every human being". COMPUTER LITERACY & DEVELOPMENT- Development refers to qualitative and structural changes in the state of an economy for the betterment of social and economic conditions of the people. This requires, people to acquire new knowledge, information and skills, which provide an impetus for development. Development is not merely growth in the economic sense but is closely related to the notion of quality of life that essentially ought to ensure fulfillment of basic needs properly and with dignity. Computer literacy begets new faith & new vision in the learner, it destroys his sense of inferiority and frustration, it stirs him to new self reliance, makes him feel that he belongs to the class of society that triumphs over difficulties, it gives him a new sense of mastery over his fate . It pulls him from the edges of society where he has lain stagnant mentally into the currents where he will be swept onwards as a part of the great moving course of human history. Poverty, Literacy & Development Challenges for the 21st Century-Poverty and illiteracy are closely linked which go together everywhere in the world. Both poverty and experiences around the World show that literacy affects human resource development dramatically increasing children participation in primary education reducing infant mortality, accelerating success in child care, immunization, better health, better hygiene, better nutrition, small family norm, empowerment of women so on and so forth. There is a definite relationship between literacy and development. Literacy strengthens and sustains the process of development. Literacy is both the cause and effect of development. Computer Literacy is one of the most important indicators of the socio-economic and political development of a society. The challenge set by the recent UNESCO commission report affirms its belief that computer education has a fundamental role to play in personal and social development and as one of the principal means available to faster, deeper and more harmonious form of human development and thereby to reduce poverty, exclusion ignorance, oppression and violence. It advocates with deep commitment and great moral passion. "LEARNING THROUGHOUT LIFE" as one of the keys of 21st Century. India has one of the highest female-male gaps in Computer literacy rates in the world. Female Computer literacy rates are much lower in India than in sub-Sahara Africa. One of the reasons why children are never enrolled in schools is the lack of parental interest in schooling. Even when parents do enroll their children in school, they often find it difficult to judge what goes on in the classroom, to get a hearing from the teacher and of course to help their children with their studies. Not frequently, they end up blaming themselves or their children for the failures of the schooling system. More than 95% of the Indian population does not know how to use computers. The consequences of this situation will lead to serious problems, creating digital divide which will have a bigger impact than the income divide. Computer literacy and the digital divide- A highly educated individual without the basic knowledge of computers is considered computer illiterate in today’s world. A simple, yet elegant way to define computer literacy is ‘the ability to achieve desired outcomes via a computer’. The tasks that constitute computer literacy vary depending on environments. For general users, it is an understanding of computer basics, knowledge of operating system and proficiency in specific programs. In modern business, having a computer system is a standard practice; computers are also used in auto repair shops for detection. In advanced countries, people search books by looking into computerized database, not by thumbing through card catalogues.
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