Computer Shiksha ('Shiksha' = Education)

Computer Shiksha offers computer literacy programs as a service to schools who are already successfully engaging with communities but do not have the resources to produce an effective Digital Literacy program. The CS solution focusses on bridging the Digital Divide.

Our project aims to combat one of the troubling features of education inequality by providing technology access and instruction set for under-served children.

Computer Shiksha provides Free Computer literacy through Self-Learning Videos in schools catering to the under-served by delivering refurbished computers, training a teacher per school, providing video based course-ware, assisting in monitoring, evaluation and certification of students and assisting in life-long maintenance and other support to these schools.

Scaling up the Computer Shiksha solution world-wide would mean providing Digital Access to everyone thereby creating Computer trained people, who use this skill for the betterment of their lives in every possible way.

Computer Shiksha class

The world faces a tremendous range of unmet needs related to education, health, food security and energy use. In India, having made considerable strides in improving access, efforts are now being made to improve the quality of education. As of the 2001 Census, there are more than 400 million school-age children who are not able to afford an adequate education. These disparities, driven by class, caste and regional disparities are one of the greatest challenges that the country will need to address in the 21st century.

Our project aims to combat one of the troubling features of education inequality by providing technology access and instruction set for under-served children. Computer Shiksha offers computer literacy programs as a service to schools who are already successfully engaging with communities but do not have the resources to produce an effective Digital Literacy program.

The organization believes that exposing children to the modern marvels of the personal computer can serve as a mechanism that will better their lives substantially. The impact ranges from attracting more children to come into the fold of formal education to a desire  to pursue further education.

Over 290 Million children just in India alone, don't have any Digital Access  

Computer Shiksha provides Free Computer literacy through in-house developed Self-Learning Videos in schools catering to the under-served by delivering refurbished computers, training a teacher per school, providing video based course-ware, assisting in monitoring, evaluation and certification of students and assisting in life-long maintenance and other support to these schools.

We were absolutely clear that Computer education as an employ-ability tool is no more valid. There are no jobs of data entry anywhere in the world, and whatever may be still available, will soon vanish due to AI. Computer education is just as essential as Languages and Maths, because without this knowledge one just won’t be able to fit in the society, nor get any job in the future, because computer education like maths need to be inherently known to perform any job. So computer education shifts from an employ-ability tool to an essential skill just to survive in the society. This project will thus aim to enable students to use their knowledge of computers to better their lives.

We have developed our video course ware on MS Paint, Open Office suite, Internet and email over 2 years period and approximately 200k USD.

Certification : Training The Trainers

Simply put, the overarching desire of the Computer Shiksha team is to leave no one computer illiterate on the face of this Earth. We have made a beginning with initially targeting kids at schools that cater to the under-served communities in India and, to some extent, in Ghana, Africa. As many as 1,06,000+ such childre are already reaping benefits from this missionary work of Computer Shiksha.

Unfortunately, without the intervention of Computer Shiksha, these children from under-served communities would probably never even get to see a computer; and getting access to the Digital World all around them would have just remained a far fetched dream.

We are currently working in 16 states of India and with support from an NGO in Ghana have trained teachers of 21 schools in Ghana where more than 500 kids are learning with the help of Computer Shiksha.

When Computer Shiksha intervenes in a school that is catering to students coming from the under-served strata of Society, it ensures that the children become computer friendly and can then derieve benefits of Digitalization of various services meant to benefit them. A teacher is trained by CS to offer the modular video-based courseware which familiarizes students with computers and teaches them necessary skills like how to use Word like text processors, how to work with Spread sheets and how to manage presentations. The CS course includes getting to know the Internet and use e-mails etc.

The trained teachers are also taught first level of Hardware and Software maintenance so that they can resolve any issues which would have otherwise impacted the CS classes. In-fact, using technologies like Whatsapp videos, these teachers get help from CS Engineers to even resolve graver Hardware and Software issues. For concerns which demand sending a system to CS Repair & Refurbishment center, CS provides pick-up and replacement services through courier organisations. All of this ensures that CS classes are not missed and the learning happens uninterruted.

In this work on the ground, it has been reported that : 

1. Whichever school started CS courses, the number of admission requests to that school increased dramatically, as word spread about computer education being available there.

2. On the days, computer literacy is provided, the attendance improves compared to the days when it is not the turn of the computer course.

3. The sheer confidence that children gain once they start computer education is awesome to watch.

4. This course will enable a child to work in any job more confidently in future when he/she enters job market and also integrate with the society better.

Our Mission is to build an ecosystem for providing Computer Knowledge with passion and commitment; to deliver value in the form of Computer trained people, who use this skill for the betterment of their lives. We aim to combat one of the troubling features of education inequality by providing technology access and instruction for under-served children.

What is being done by Computer Shiksha creates students who know computers and can thus add to a computer savvy work-force in times to come; thereby bettering their lives substantially. The CS mission, thus is in full alignment with the Challenge at hand. 

After having taught 1300 children in 6 schools serving slum areas of Gurgaon for 3 years, Computer Shiksha spent 2 years in developing Computer Literacy video course-ware covering MS Paint, Open Office Suite, Internet and Email spending approximately 200,000 USD.

And now, we have deployed our complete solution of Video course-ware, refurbished computers, 8 days school teachers training, life-long hardware & software maintenance, 9 am to 5 pm CS helpline to support the school teachers, assessment services at all levels and finally certification at 570+ schools in 16 states in India serving 106,000+ children in these schools and expanding fast. CS is now poised to serve across the Globe.

We intend to provide Computer Knowledge and Training from Pavements to High-rises, children to adults, villages to metros, with passion and commitment. Our dream is to ensure computer literacy for all!

The future of computer training will be the use of digital media to instruct the user. Computer Shiksha has been quick to adopt this philosophy and has successfully transitioned all of its services from the traditional live classroom structure to the more innovative digital media format.

We created content to cover the entire curriculum in such a way that learning could happen in almost the same way as in a live class with a trainer. We have been able to build in Expected Student Responses. The instructional content is

• in the form of power point integrated video modules (with audio voice-over)
• Hardware / Software Troubleshooting manual
• Trainer's Manual for all the modules of the course for helping the trainers in the classroom

Thus our approach is to "enable" the schools that are already serving the children of under-served communities and add full end-to-end computer literacy course solution to their portfolio. This includes free computers, free complete computer literacy courseware, free 8-days training to teachers from schools who may be 12th standard and who may have never ever seen a computer. This training will not only enable him/her to deliver world class computer literacy course with help of CS course videos but also help solve 95% of hardware and software problems with the help of CS help line. CS also offers free lifetime maintenance of computers, complete module wise assessment support and finally certification.

The CS Solution is thus churning out computer saavy students catalysing life transformations.

Computer Shiksha (CS) has used technology in its operations to make the processes cheaper, scalable, and available in far flung areas.

Our initial model involved our own people going to teach in schools and was found to be expensve. We thought about removing the human being in this computer education delivery by creating a video that mimicks human teachers. The video explains a typical problem by drawing on a screen, the way a teacher draws on a board. With the videos, the human being interaction got limited to that of being a video manager. We also created Help Manuals for the Teachers.

Currently we have created our course videos in the following languages : Hindi, English, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, and Oriya.

Computer Shiksha courses are divided in two levels : Basic, Basic plus; and Advanced

We have used Software applications : Open Office; Adobe reader; and Paint on Windows.

The tools used to create the Computer Shiksha self-learning videos : Auda city; Video to Video converter; and Filmora editor ('wondershare').

Another area where technology is being used is repair of computers. The school teachers, are also trained as to how to repair H/w and s/w issues. In case, they cannot, then they call our CS helpline and using WhatsApp video show the problem live and through the same video call, they are guided to the solution.

With this we have achieved >96% uptime for around 6679 computers installed in 567+ locations in India, with this number growing exponentially.

Since most low-budget schools can't get computer teachers we thought about removing the human being in this computer education delivery totally by creating a video that teaches the way a human being teaches.Once we had developed such videos, the class coordinator became a video manager. We also created Help Manuals for the Teachers.

Technology used for creating Self Learning Computer Course Videos is tried and tested across the Globe. Currently we have created our course videos in the following languages :

Hindi, English, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, and Oriya.

Software used includes Open Office, Adobe reader, Ms- Paint, Auda city, Video to Video converter and Filmora editor (known as wondershare)

This is software which helps one to make final video and export final video in supported video format.

That this technology has succesfully worked for CS is evident in the fact that we have gone from 1200 children being served in mid-2016 to serving 106,000+ children today by enabling 567+ CS centers in schools in 16 states in India.

Ghana has already launched computer classes based on our model and Nigeria and Barbados are next under discussion.

Another area where technology is being used is repair of computers. The teachers, trained by us on our videos, are also trained as to how to repair H/w and s/w issues. In case, they cannot, then they call our CS helpline and using WhatsApp video show the problem live and through the same video call, they are guided to the solution.

With this we have achieved >96% uptime for around 7000 computers installed in 567+ locations in India, with this number growing exponentially.

Since inception of Computer Shiksha(CS ) in 2012 we have not really come across any substantial 'risks' and the CS model has been running succesfully in 567+ CS-enabled schools and has alraedy impacted the lives of 106,000+ students.

Our operations also got effected by Covid since we could not make the desired number of school visits for purposes of evaluation and short-listing of low-budget schools for adoption by CS. However, we began using technlogy where feasible, like using school data available on the Internet, making telephone calls to school owners; using Zoom, Google Meet and whatsapp to contact school managements and to conduct on-line Owners Seminars to inform schools about the CS program and to get their affirmations for CS.

One 'risk' that we have to provide for is that of schools not being able to attend our 8-day intensive training due to reasons beyond our control. To counter this, we target more number of schools than we actually need for a Donor supported project so that even if a few schools drop-out of the program, we would still meet the required numbers.

Another area of concern is the delays low-budget schools may cause due to lack of resources or funds to complete the work of making labs available with necessary wiring, furniture and a Projector or large screen TV. Again, to meet eventualities resulting from such delays; we work with more number of schools than are needed for a particular project.

106,000+ students currently, directly. Indirectly, Computer Shiksha(CS) also impacts the school teacher since s(he) gets trained in computer literacy. CS also impacts the families and communities where the students come from.

In another one year from now CS would be serving close to 300,000+ students while in five years from now we aim to reach out to 1.88+ Million students. We also aim to cover 8+ Backwards Districts ( now re-named Aspirational Districts ) of India over the next 1 year from now and cover 25+ such Districts over the next 5 years from now under our Project 115 Backwards Districts of India.

The table below outlines our plans over the next 5 years and shows the relevant yearly figures we are working towards. Note that in India we work on the basis of a Financial year beginnng 1st April and as such, for example, the period 2021-22 would end on 31st March 2022. As such, for 1 year from now i.e. for the period ending 31st August 2022 we arrive at the extrapolated figure of 300,000+ figures based on data provided below. By this time we will also be covering 8+ Backward districts using the CS Model 3 which entails providing computer literacy to the student wherever s(he) may be on their smart phones. 

In the same way we extrapolate and arrive at the figure of 1.88+ Million students for the 5 year period ending 31st August 2026. And  we should be reaching out to 25+ Districts.

Computer Shiksha's(CS) impact is the number of students we reach out to.

We are reaching out to 106,000+ students currently, directly. Indirectly, Calso impacts the school teacher since s(he) gets trained in computer literacy. CS also impacts the families and communities where the students come from.

In a year from now CS would be serving close to 300,000+ students while in five years we aim to reach out to 1.88+ Million students. We also aim to cover 8+ Backwards Districts of India over the next 1 year and cover 25+ such Districts over the next 5 years under our Project 115. 

We intend to retain our focus on working with schools using the current model of CS and this would take us to 149,620 students by 31st March 2022 and to 359,620 by 31st March 2026.

We will start focussing on working within the Government systems more pro-actively. This will help us to quickly reach out to more students since such Government schools usually have computer labs.

Bsides these approaches we are already testing our solution of running CS computer literacy courses on smart phones where-in the student can access these from wherever they are - at home or at school. This will help us reach multiple students under our Project 115 for Backward Districts of India.

Developing new partnerships and working more abroad as well as Organisational improvement factors are also highlighted below.

The approximate expected number of students we would impact is given in the table below :

We provide free Computer Literacy to students from the under-served communities right from KG to college levels. Indirectly, we also impact the community - teachers from schools and parents and siblings of these children.

The specific measurable indicators that we measure all the time are

• No of Schools tied up with to implement CS course of computer literacy in the school
• No of children covered in the course
• No of States in India covered
• No of students certified in any module
• Level of Quality delivery schools wise , category wise divided

 Computer Shiksha is imbibing in these kids a way of life which enables them to at least stand on an equal footing with their better privileged  friends. We are building the requisite confidence and pride in these kids which will allow them to succeed in multiple walks of life.

It has been reported that :  (Not measurable)

1. Admission requests to schools offering CS courses increased dramatically, as word spread around about computer education becoming available there

2. On the days computer literacy is provided attendance improves

3. The sheer confidence that children gain once they start computer education is awesome to watch

Testimonials, like the one below, from students have been recorded and are available on our You Tube page.These not only convey what students feel about computer education that they are being provided, but also are heart-warming stories, as they share their dreams and aspirations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbMtst-PU_c

20 full-time and 1 part-time staff.

>90% staff come from the same background as the beneficiaries and their empathy level naturally remains high.

They are trained extensively on various functions and develop into a multi-role capable contributor.

Indirectly, 1 teacher per school (567+ today) become indirect employees of CS

Computer Shiksha(CS) is led by leading professionals who have run global organizations in IT and Management. Dr. Rakesh Suri, Founder President at CS has over 36 years’ experience in the global IT industry. For him, this is his Life’s Mission and he devotes full time to this activity.

More than 90% staff come from the same background as the beneficiaries and their empathy level naturally remains high.

 We have 7 trustees at the helm who are responsible for the running of CS and are its conscience keepers legally as well as morally.  Patrons in CS are the group which represents Computer Shiksha's intellectual depth and philanthropic intent.  CS depends on its Patrons to evangelize the cause to the communities they belong to for spreading the word and mustering resources to make Computer Shiksha grow and expand its footprint. They also form the sounding board for the trustees for any decisions which involve large investments or a long term impact.

Operations is headed by a Vice President ably supported by a General Manager and a couple of Programme Managers. Together, they evaluate and select schools for offering CS courses. Further, we have our people strategically located in the North, West and Central parts of India who also help us in operations and help our Program Manager in monitoring and evaluation.

Each role is extremely vital to achieve our overall goal. The backbone of the entire staff is the shared desire to promote innovative and progressive change in the world.

On 15th March 2012 we came together to articulate our dream of social service and got to the drawing board. Computer Shiksha(CS) is a team of professionals with a varied background in the domain of Management, Education and IT. We believe everybody has the desire to 'give-back' to Society. We had arrived at a stage in life where our basic needs could be met and it was a ripe time to put into action our 'giving-back' endeavors. Looking at our combined experiences and the needs of the Nation, we narrowed down to working in education for the under-served. From here to focusing on computer literacy was an expected step since we came from the IT and ITES industries and hoped we could bank on support from our friends for say, end-of-life computers etc.

The idea was to utilize our talents and provide Computer Education as a service to those who are already successfully engaged with communities similar to a B2B model. A small meeting with a street based NGO made it look possible and very exciting too. And thus was born what we call Computer Shiksha today. And from there this idea of a N2N (akin to B2B) initiative came. Now we partner with other NGOs already running educational establishments for communities and take computer education to their doorsteps.

We intend to provide Computer Knowledge and Training from Pavements to High-rises, children to adults, villages to metros, with passion and commitment. Our dream is to ensure computer literacy for all!

Just in India 240 million children await Computer Shiksha(CS). We need end-of-life systems in huge numbers and funds to re-furbish these. Additionally, funds are also needed to train teachers, provide video based course-ware, assist in monitoring, evaluation and certification; life-long maintenance; operating and administrative expenses.

We are applying to seek tie-ups with partners who can help provide resources - technology, logistics, financial, end-of-life computers. 

For 1 million children target, we would need to tie-up with:

100 + corporate in India for End-of-life computer and funds donations. Currently we have 16 corporate partners

We need to build relationship with US charity ecosystem for raising funds 

We are starting our PROJECT 115 backward districts for raising awareness of need of computer literacy in schools from Jan 2022. This program will run for almost 10+ years and reach 80-100 million children.

Our challenge now is meeting the numbers in a quick enough time-frame. We are looking at at-least 240 million   kids who need access to Computer Shiksha asap !

This is demand side and If we look at delivery side from CS, if we want to reach 1 million children, we require :

13 million USD, 72000 computers or 25 million USD (assuming zero computers received in donation) and 3 years.

We could always ramp up the organization to increase the target.

Today CS doesn’t have a dedicated vertical to work with State Governments. To enable Government schools to offer CS course of Computer Literacy we would need to build on that.

We at Computer Shiksha (CS) help provide free computer literacy for the under-served at needy schools where students are already regularly attending classes. We don’t just help provide refurbished computers but deliver a complete package including video course-ware, training, monitoring, evaluation, free lifetime maintenance support, and certification.

And, all of our services, are offered free as a payback to society.

Computer Shiksha (CS), is an 80G, 12A certified and FCRA approved non-profit organization, working towards enabling computer literacy among the under-served communities. Today, CS is providing free computer literacy to 1,06,000+ children of under-served communities through CS-enabled centers at 576+ schools in 16 states in India, and expanding fast.

Our Computer Literacy courses teach the students to practically use Paint, text processing, spreadsheets, presentations, internet usage, and e-mail, etc. Computer Shiksha focuses on practically teaching how to use computers by learning things like Office and there-by using computers as a tool and an aid in learning in Life.

One of the most important aspects of Computer Shiksha is that computer course videos are designed to replace a human teacher totally; which is seen as a big boon in remote low-budget schools. The CS course demands the use of one computer per child so that s(he)  can have 100% practical learning. The course thus requires one computer per student. With this element in the design, any person who may be 12th standard pass and may have never seen a computer in life will become a world-class trainer/facilitator after 8 days of intensive training by CS. Not only that, this person after CS training will be able to address more than 90% of hardware and software issues in the school computers with the WhatsApp video helpline of CS.  

Note that our course videos are freely available on YouTube to anyone who wants to learn about computers.

We will be happy to answer questions from you or provide additional details that you may require, and we look forward to taking CS to more needy kids with your support. We are 80G, 12A, and FCRA compliant and the work we do is covered under CSR.

We are seeking tie-ups with partners who can help provide resources - technology, logistics, financial, end-of-life computers. 

On the demand side our challenge now is meeting the numbers in a quick enough time-frame. On the delivery side if we want to reach 1 million children, we require :

100 + corporate in India for End-of-life computer and funds donations. Currently we have 16 corporate partners

We need to build relationship with US charity ecosystem for raising funds - 13 million USD, 72000 computers or 25 million USD (assuming zero computers received in donation) and 3 years.

We would also need to ramp-up the organization to increase the target.

As per NSSO 2014 figures, 293 million children don’t seem to have access to computer literacy and will not have it as no one (including Central and State Governments) has any project in place to deliver it. To make a serious dent in this daunting figure, we are starting our PROJECT 115 backward districts for raising awareness of need of computer literacy in schools from Jan 2022. We expect this to help schools and other stakeholders to start looking at and developing ‘resource-constrained’ innovative solutions with CS help.

This program will run for almost 10+ years and reach 80-100 million children.

Today CS doesn’t have a dedicated vertical to work with State Governments. To enable Government schools to offer CS course of Computer Literacy we would need to build on that.

Computer Shiksha looks forward to partnering with various State Governments in India And with organizations and people who can help us in reaching Computer Shiksha's model of computer literacy to more needy people across the Globe.

Today CS doesn’t have a dedicated vertical to work with State Governments. To enable Government schools to offer CS course of Computer Literacy we would need to build on that.

As per NSSO 2014 figures, 293 million children don’t seem to have access to computer literacy and will not have it as no one (including Central and State Governments) has any project in place to deliver it. To make a serious dent in this daunting figure, we are starting our PROJECT 115 backward districts for raising awareness of need of computer literacy in schools from Jan 2022. We expect this to help schools and other stakeholders to start looking at and developing ‘resource-constrained’ innovative solutions with CS help.

This program will run for almost 10+ years and reach 80-100 million children.

We are seeking tie-ups with partners who can help provide resources - technology, logistics, financial, end-of-life computers. 

We require :

100 + corporate in India for End-of-life computer and funds donations. Currently we have 16 corporate partners

We need to build relationship with US charity ecosystem for raising funds - 13 million USD, 72000 computers or 25 million USD (assuming zero computers received in donation) and 3 years.