The Ministry for Human Resource Development (MHRD) is in the process of drafting a 'National Policy on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in School Education' for the country. IT for Change is advocating for the policy to be based on education perspectives and philosophies, and working towards achieving education aims; while a significant part of the current thinking on this policy appears to be based largely on technological perspectives. As a part of this effort, ITfC is working along with Azim Premji Foundation, Digantar, Educational Resource Unit, Ekalavya, Quest Alliance, SRF Foundation and Vidya Bhawan Society to work towards bringing in the needed domain perspectives.

 

In this regard, a two day consultation was held on "National Policy on ICTs in School Education" (NPISE) at NCERT, Delhi on April 29-30th, 2008. The discussions centred on Indian education context, critical challenges faced, and how ICTs could be adapted to meet education goals. The consultation aimed to generate a set of policy directives based on educational perspectives and policies, as an input into the NPISE being formulated by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD).

Anita Gurumurthy presented a paper titled, 'The local-global connection in the information society: Some tentative formulations around gender, development and social change' at a seminar focussing on 'Gender and work in the global context: Theory and practice'. The seminar was conducted by the London School of Economics in May 2007.

ITfC is partnering with Mahila Samakhya Karnataka (MSK) to support the development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) enabled knowledge processes within the organization. Mahila Samakhya is an established grassroots initiative of the Government of India for empowering socially and economically disadvantaged women in rural areas through self-help group activity.

Objectives and project components

A note on Mahiti Manthana

This note on Mahiti Manthana was submitted to the UNDP and National Institute for Smart Government (NISG) for dissemination into mainstream media. It captures the objectives and strategies of the project, while also commenting on outputs and impacts.

A brochure on Mahiti Manthana

Using new ICT possibilities to strengthen Mahila Samakhaya – A policy note based on emerging insights from the pilot project Mahiti Manthana

The workshop proposal ‘Governance of Critical Internet Resources – Exploring Commons and Public Interest Based Frameworks’ submitted by IT for Change in partnership with The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and Information Network for the Third Sector (RITS, Brazil) has been accepted. The workshop is now retitled as 'Governance for Critical Internet Resources' after being merged with the 'Legal aspects of managing critical Internet resources' workshop proposal proposed by the World Bank.

Mridula Swamy presented a paper titled ‘A Gendered Analysis of Research Methodologies in ICTD Projects in India’ at The Global Training Exchange (GTM) Programme. The GTM is a major activity of the second phase of the Gender Evaluation Methodology (GEM) project of the Association for Progressive Communications (APC).

ITfC is partnering with the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) amongst others to establish a Community of Expertise (CoE) on ICT Policy and Finance for Social, Community and Public Entrepreneurship under the UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development (UN GAID).