Kerala plans to distribute Raspberry Pi computers to students

Government of India through its “Make in India” programme wishes to transform India to a software/hardware super power. For this transformation of our country requires skilled employees who can build products for the sunrise industries (both Electronics & ICT).

In the last three years alone 80M new users got on to the internet in India. In the next five years, another 500M new users would be on the internet and a lot of new products would be needed. To build these products, we need excellent coders and they are the key to building startups which will turn into billion dollar companies.

Government of Kerala has taken the lead and launched the initiative called “Learn to Code”. The initiative is being kick started through the Raspberry Pi Distribution Programme. Under this programme Government of Kerala is distributing 2500 Raspberry Pi Kits to selected school students.

The Government is attempting to “Catch them Young” and instill a sense of Innovation and experimentation in the school children. The programme is implemented by Technopark Technology Business Incubator (T-TBI) in association with IT@School and Startup Village. The students would be given basic training and would be encouraged to experiment with the Pi, focused coding sessions shall start after March examinations. Starting April, each student will be assigned with a mentor as well.

The Learn to Code program is being launched on the foundation built by the IT @ School project which was started in 2002 for capacity building in Information Technology at the School level. IT @ School is a Gobally acclaimed success model churning out IT savy generations into the system.(@ 4lakhs students per year for the last 12 years). A lot of the current capabilities of the State in human capabilities can be attributed to this early intervention and the Learn to code program is a natural progression to this.

The Raspberry Pi is a low cost, credit-card sized computer that plugs into a display unit (computer monitor or TV) and uses a standard keyboard and mouse. It is a capable little device that enables people of all ages to explore computing, mobile casino and to learn how to program in languages like Scratch and Python. It’s capable of doing everything you’d expect a desktop computer to do, from browsing the internet and playing high-definition video, to making spreadsheets, word-processing, and playing games.

The Raspberry Pi has the ability to interact with the outside world, and has been used in a wide array of digital maker projects. The computer unit has outlets, which can be connected to a normal screen and a keyboard, and it functions as a normal desktop PC. This whole set up is used for learning computer programming, to surf the internet and send out e-mails, create games and animations, make graphic designs in the screen and to programme external devices like robots, thermostats for recording temperature, etc.

The Raspberry Distribution planned by the Government of Kerala is First of its kind in India and First time as a State sponsored programme in the world. A similar distribution happened in UK in January 2013, sponsored by Google and distributed 15,000 raspberry kits to school students.Technopark TBI has completed the procurement of the Raspberry Pi kit comprising of Raspberry Pi B board, Enclosure, 8 GB SD card, HDMI cable, HDMI to VGA cable, USB keyboard and USB Mouse. Out of the fund allocated for the initiative Rs 1,08,09,950 has been incurred for the procurement of 2500 kits i.e Rs 4,324/ kit.

The Government plans to distribute 10000 kits annually to students primarily in 8th standard and follow it up with focussed training/mentoring sessions and competitions to trigger and bring out the innovation and experimentation urge in the students at the school level.

Government of Kerala through Technopark TBI, IT@School and Startup Village, (the implementing agencies of the programme) is planning to conduct the state level inauguration of the “Learn to Code” initiative in Kerala and distribution of the Raspberry Pi Kits on February 21, 2015 at Ernakulam by the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Kerala Shri Oomen Chandy in the presence of Shri P K Kunhalikutty, Hon’ble Minister for IT and Industries, Shri P K Abdu Rabb, Hon’ble Minister for Education and Shri P H Kurian IAS, Principal Secretary IT. The inauguration event will be telecasted to all other district venues of IT@School via VICTERS. The Raspberry Pi shall be distributed simultaneously across all districts and the same shall be followed by a training session by trained faculty from IT@School. The distribution in the districts may be done by Ministers as decided by the cabinet.

The inauguration function will be followed by a video presentation on Introduction to Raspberry Pi. The Master trainers of IT@School who have undergone hands on training on Raspberry Pi shall be facilitating the sessions at the District level. The program shall be evaluated on how the students are responding to the trainings and the level of innovation in the activities and products developed by them.