39 Adult Education and Computer Literacy Programs

Till early part  of 80s, Regional Engineering College Calicut was predominantly a teaching institution and many of the teachers were only interested in doing their teaching job effectively. But there were a few teachers even at that time interested in trying to help the students outside the class room and also get involved in a few socially relevant responsibilities for the public around the region. These activities were to be done outside the hours of class work. Some of the work was voluntary and some were suggested by the bosses and those who had difficulty in saying “NO”  to the bosses  used to take up these. Being staff in charges of various clubs such as Fine Arts Club, Literary and Debating Club, Industry & Planning Forum, Radio Club etc and  being Branch Counsellors of  Professional  Society Branches  like Institution of Electrical & Electronics Engineers( IEEE), Institution of Engineers India  (IEI) etc  were among these. Many students were participating in these activities based on their interests and aptitudes. These were intended for improving the organizational and communication skills and leadership qualities of the students. There were also jobs like staff in charge of Library, Transportation and Vehicle section, Sports Council and Wardens of hostels, etc. where the staff in-charge has to deal with the nonteaching staff working in these sections. In addition, being an institution funded by the Government of India, there were several government projects where teachers had to help. As many of the teachers and students were staying in the campus, most of these were done after the class work or on Saturdays and Sundays.

When I was a lecturer, one of the earliest extra academic work I had taken up was that of the Coordinator, National Adult Education Programme (NAEP) special one for engineering colleges. Under this scheme, youngsters who have discontinued their studies after Class 6, 8 or 10 were chosen and were given training in electrical wiring, plumbing etc. About 30   participants were chosen in each batch and classes were held in the evenings or Saturdays  and Sundays. Final or pre-final year students were taking classes for them.  I remember two students from Lakshadweep, Mr.Rafique and Mr.Alikoya.  . Other students who had the social commitment were M/s Vamadevan, Karunakaran, Manoj   etc, a few names  I can remember. Money was available for the purchase of consumables and tools for wiring and plumbing and a token amount as pocket money was given to the students who were engaging the class. Accounts had to be maintained properly and audited accounts presented to the Calicut University through whom the money was being disbursed. As Coordinator of the project, I had to draw the money, spend it and keep the accounts of income and expenditure. Even though, there was no financial benefit from this programme, I took up this as one with some social relevance. Except that I will be reaching home late on certain days or had to work on Saturdays/Sundays, there was no other trouble for me. I continued this job until I went for higher studies in I.I.T.Madras.

 Another major socially useful work that I took up was called Computer Literacy in Schools (CLASS) project of Government of India. This was a project under which selected schools were given six  BBC Microcomputers each and the teachers involved were given  proper training in REC. Under this scheme, six schools were selected from Calicut city and nearby area and the work under this project was to be coordinated by REC Calicut. I was nominated as the Coordinator for this project. I was called for a meeting in New Delhi for initial discussion on the logistics.  Six schools were selected by the Kerala government and these were Govt Achuthan’s Girls High School, Nadakkave Girls High School, Govt Model School, Govt Ganapath High School, REC Govt high School and Govt High School Mavoor. The conditions in the several government schools at that time were miserable and it was difficult to set up a computer room which is dust free and with adequate power supply and with proper doors and key. The non- availability of space and money were the hurdles to be overcome.   Many   teachers were enthusiastic about the scheme and with their help and cooperation of the Parent Teachers Association of these schools, we could somehow set up the computer rooms. After setting up the computer lab, 6 computers each were transferred to the respective schools. Three teachers each from all these schools were given detailed training in REC  for two weeks on essentials of computing and how to  use the  BBC Microcomputers. Teachers were given travelling allowances and food during the sessions. The computers supplied were BBC Micros and the monitor named Cub was also very good.  BBC BASIC was the program used with an interpreter resident in the computer. The memory available was just 32k out of which 60% was occupied by the operating system and the BASIC interpreter. Keyboard and floppy drives were used   as input devices. A few interesting programs were also made available for instruction to the students. Children were given training in BASIC programming. Among the six schools, the Govt. School  Mavoor was the least accessible as it was on a remote hill and REC  Govt High school in our campus itself.  The success of these programmes depended on the commitment and enthusiasm of the teachers and among the six schools Nadakkave Girls High School and Govt Model School   were the best. REC was provided with six computers to be issued as replacement to schools in the event of a breakdown of any computer issued to the schools. I continued in this project till I left for higher studies at I.I.T.Delhi.

Both these  programmes were  very useful  to the public and  students of the schools. Unfortunately like many other good projects of the government, both these projects died a natural death slowly. The  factory  in Chandigarh where the  computers  were manufactured was completely destroyed  in a fire and this was cited as the reason for the end of CLASS project. I don’t know what happened to the computers supplied to the schools or those left in REC. Fortunately for me, nobody created any problem for me at the time of superannuation, as the computers were issued to me on a personal responsibility.