[Air-l] India Rejects One Laptop Per Child

[Heshan Sun]

I really think an "One Glass of Milk Per Child Per Day Project" (hypothetic) 
is much better and more realistic than the "One Laptop Per Child Project" 
for MOST of the children in the world. Within the "Five Minutes to 
Midnight", it's better for a child to drink a glass of milk rather than 
suffering on an inaccessible Internet or learn how to work with Excel. I am 
serious, Wojciech, milk is still a luxury thing for many children in the 
world.
Computer skills are not the only thing composing the "employability skills". 
Actually, there are still many workers (even knowledge workers) in the world 
who do not need computer skills at all in order to be employed. What is 
needed may be a better education of mathematics or language.
Simply criticizing something without fully understanding the context and 
from only one perspective is dangerous and actually sometimes funny. It's 
like the little prince who asked "why don't these starving people eat meat 
if they do not have bread?"
As a people work on "Youth on human rights", Wojciech should really go to 
rural areas in India or western China to do a homework on what people 
different from him really need and what satisfy their needs better, and more 
importantly, what we can provide, rather than simply laughing at their 
lacking of "foresights".
Good luck to you and too all children in the world.
Heshan

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Wojciech Gryc" <wojciech at gmail.com>
To: <air-l at listserv.aoir.org>
Sent: Thursday, July 27, 2006 12:49 AM
Subject: [Air-l] India Rejects One Laptop Per Child


> Hi,
>
> Keeping in mind the long discussion that was posted a few weeks ago with
> regards to the merits (or lack thereof) of the One Laptop Per Child 
> project,
> I thought this may interest subscribers of this list:
>
> HRD rubbishes MIT's laptop scheme for kids
> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1698603,curpg-1.cms
>
> So India has decided against the One Laptop Per Child Project (for now). 
> Two
> arguments that stood out for me:
>
>   1. Poor rural children often have health problems that may be
>   exacerbated by laptop use, especially those affecting eyesight and
>   children's backs.
>   2. No developed country has universalized laptops for children, so why
>   should India?
>
> I must say that the first argument is a perfect example of how people in
> developed countries often lack the foresight and local knowledge required 
> to
> adequately decide whether a technology truly is "appropriate". Forget the
> merits to education or the potential for employability skills -- those are
> secondary to the potentially negative health effects of the laptops.
>
> Thanks,
> Wojciech Gryc
>
> -- 
>
> Five Minutes to Midnight:
> Youth on human rights and current affairs
> http://www.fiveminutestomidnight.org/
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