Monday, April 21, 2003		Feature

Vacation scene this summer is
 ...off course
Peeyush Agnihotri

THE mouse plans to pip GI Joe and the keyboard has intentions of scoring over the blackboard. This summer vacation, too, school kids are ready to don the techno-cap and parents are also more than eager to expose the apples-of-their-eye to a heavy dose of technology.

In a major shift from the trend seen over previous years, IT-training institutes might face a tough time selling their summer-vacation courseware. The reasons vary from high urban PC penetration, effect of school computer camps, CD mania to Net impact.

Reality bites 
"What all do these IT institutes teach? Switching a computer on and off, Power Point, DOS or some basics. Parents have realised that spending thousands on such courses serves no purpose," says Rupinder Singh, centre head of Microuniv, a high-end IT training institute. He avers that vacation courses are on a downward swing because parents are increasingly feeling that they are of no use and relevance. Manjit Singh from edcom, another computer education institute, also voices the same concern. He agrees that since last year summer computer courses have been on a downslide and attributes it to schools that have started imparting computer training according to their own curriculum. "Schools have the infrastructure and they too hold summer camps. Parents also derive more satisfaction if PC-familiarity comes through schools."

Schools 
Most of the schools have already outlined summer vacation computer courses for students. Students, too, are eager to devote some part of their vacations there, in their civvies, sans schoolbags, for PC’s sake. "Obviously, schools are any day better than private IT companies. For one, they are non-profit organisations and, secondly, they know what all is practically relevant. What I feel is that it makes more sense for a vacation learner to do so at school," says Principal Sarita Manuja from a Chandigarh-based DAV school.

CDs and WWW 
The DIY (Do-it-Yourself) concept is also catching on, be it through CDs or Websites. "The IT summer course wave is on the ebb. PC penetration and access to the Internet has taken its toll. Educational CDs are the order of the day and with disks on Office Suite training and Internet familiarity, besides those that adhere to the CBSE syllabus, costing between Rs 250 to Rs 650, institutes are getting run for their money," says Kamal Dev, senior vice-president of New Delhi-based computer zone.

Sanjeev Walia from Jetage, a Chandigarh-based multimedia library owner, blames the games for all this. He says kids in the 6-12 age bracket (the segment that IT institutes are eyeing) prefer games over educational self-help CDs. "There is a lot of educational stuff but kids want to purchase games CDs costing almost four times over. And for once parents too are not objecting because its only during vacations that kids can enjoy," he says. Parents’ contention is that even if the kids fiddle around with games, they develop reflexes and cognitive skills.

The WWW also has its quota of sites that may train young minds. There are sites like www.compufield.net/kids,www.futurekids. com and kidstacy.com to name a few. Ask Ragini from compufield.net and she tells you how vacation courses help kids in their schools to air superiority and how kids register for long and short-term courses with their portal every vacation.

Sticking to guns 
IT-training industry barons are certainly not buying this. They scoff at the idea of CDs and Websites stealing a march over IT-training institutes. Pointing a finger towards Websites’ credibility, they say more of them shut down than open up.

They juggle with words to project that the mad scramble for summer vacation courses is indeed on. "We cannot say that the rush has dwindled. IT courses, overall, have taken a beating and summer vacation courses are no exception. Actually, the shift has been from instructor-led training to Web and computer-based methods of teaching," is how Vikas from the sales team of a reputed IT-training institute puts it while insisting that this year is projected to be better than the previous one for their company.

Courses 
Undeterred, IT-training majors are eyeing the over 35 million urban kids in the 3-14 age bracket for summers.

NIIT has launched a new program, Swift Smart, targeted at the 9-15 age group. Available at a price of Rs. 1,499 (duration 24 hours), it is a one-month programme, available at their centres. According to Pradeep Narayanan, head, education business: "This new programme has been created keeping in mind the interest level and enthusiasm for technology, among kids." The program has features such as gaming with ‘touch the sky’, ‘touch the universe’, flight simulation games and a unique personality development module on attitude and habits. Besides these, students will learn the basics of computers, graphics, Internet and multimedia.

Similarly, Aptech, another computer education major, has Vidya Junior for children in the age group of 6- 18 up its sleeve. Titled Whiz Kids (duration 40 hours, fees Rs 2,249), Wonder Teen (40 hours, fees Rs 2,499), and Web Wizard (82 hours, fees Rs 4,799), these courses are designed as per the mental levels of various age groups. "Students will be acquainted with the basics of computers, learn animation, HTML, Front Page and Internet, based on their age groups. Our endeavour is to make kids familiar with computers in a highly interactive manner," says Anuj Kacker, marketing head, Global IT, Aptech.

Intel, the processor and chip giant that forayed into the education sector nearly three years ago, is approaching the whole concept with a different angle. Vacations or no vacations, they are busy training schoolteachers, who, in turn, will teach students. "This will enable the teachers to use technology effectively to enhance student learning. All educational technology is worth nothing if teachers don’t know how to use a computer effectively. Computers aren’t magic, teachers are," says Sandeep Aurora, Channel Manager North, Intel Asia Electronics Inc.

Gosh! Summer is not yet at its peak and the vacations are not so near, yet it seems the heat is already on.