Syllabus Review
Syllabus Review of Indian Educational Institutes to filter out Brandings
If we hope to make the next generation of Indian students digitally literate, Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) is the most logical choice. However, the syllabus in many academic institutions *mandates* proprietary software and mentions them by brand names.
This prevents teachers and students from choosing the software that best suits their needs and budgets. It makes the education system teach products not principles. And the benefits go to the owners of the brand names, not to the country, or the students or the teachers.
To bring the benefits of FOSS to Indian students, one of the first steps we need to take is to remove the proprietary bias from the syllabus.
How you can help
If you come across examples of brand names being mentioned in the syllabus in Primary Education, Secondary Education, Professional Colleges or Others, please bring them to our attention. If you can find a link to the syllabus, add it to the appropriate section and add information on the brand names mentioned in the syllabus. We aim to have a substantial database built up by the end of May 2008. We will take this information to education policy makers and political parties and get the syllabus changed.
Primary Education
| Subject | Objections | Remarks | Discussion | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NCERT | ||||
| IT CURRICULUM, NCERT | IT TOOLS section says to use Windows operating system and internet explorer(/netscape navigator).Repeated advices about installing anti-virus softwares when only proprietary software systems require such an urgent vigil against viruses. | Windows operation system and Internet explorer are proprietary softwares | ||
Secondary Education
Professional Colleges
Others
COLLEGES & UNIVERSITY
| College/University | Course | Remarks | Discussion | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M.G.Govt. Arts College,Mahe, under Pondicherry University | B.A.Malayalam Course has a paper by name Introduction to Malayalam Softwares. It introduces basic concepts of Language Computing and various text editing and Word Processing applications. The OS is Windows,since at the time of framing the syllabus,GNU/Linux distubution with Malyalam support was not available. Currently that syllabus requires an overhauling. | Windows operation system and ASCII encoded text editing and Word Processing applications are the softwares | ||