" For the first time, the Government of India is embarking on a time-bound grassroots consultative process, which will enable the Ministry of HRD to reach out to individuals across the country through over 2.75 lakh direct consultations while also taking input from citizens online " - http://mhrd.gov.in/nep-new
We all know the benefits of FOSS and also the miserable state of FOSS in our country. Needless to say that the root cause lies in ICT Education.
The draft, which is available for download, does not give any importance to open source. It only refers it once or twice.
Please do send email to nep.edu@gov.in by 31st July 2016, in order that Free and Open Source Software would play the central role in ICT Education.
Thanks Milind, Done
Here is my email if it can be use for someone:
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Hon Minister,
Thank you for inviting comments for the New Education Policy
I refer to section 4.9 titled "Use of ICT in Education"
It is imperative in today's world to leverage technology and internet for helping better education and we totally agree with this. However we are disappointed that there is no emphasis on making this based on Free and Open Source software.
Not only is Free Software cost effective, there are many other benefits.
Quoting the pioneer of Free Software, Richard Stallman,
"Free software permits students to learn how software works. Some students, natural-born programmers, on reaching their teens yearn to learn everything there is to know about their computer and its software. They are intensely curious to read the source code of the programs that they use every day.
Proprietary software rejects their thirst for knowledge: it says, “The knowledge you want is a secret—learning is forbidden!” Proprietary software is the enemy of the spirit of education, so it should not be tolerated in a school, except as an object for reverse engineering.
Free software encourages everyone to learn. The free software community rejects the “priesthood of technology”, which keeps the general public in ignorance of how technology works; we encourage students of any age and situation to read the source code and learn as much as they want to know."
In reference to this I strongly urge the department to include that all software used by schools should be Free and Open Source.
Thanking you,
Rushabh Mehta
Founder & CEO Frappé Technologies Pvt Ltd Mumbai