I read this article earlier today and I thought this was one of more the most impactful work Microsoft has done in India ( I know there are a lot more such initiatives which have been done by MS). 200,000 teachers in India trained - who have in turn trained 10 Million- those are BIG numbers.
I was recently reading a book called "The Elephant & the Dragon" by Robyn Meredith. Well researched, it had a lot of information on what China & India are doing and how they have reached the tipping point & are poised to become the powers of tomorrow. What also stuck me was the way China was moving faster and faster than India- because of its Communist Government and their implementation of policies. India on the other hand struggles at different levels because of its politics & internal issues.
Coming back to the original point - What struck me in this article - was the comment from the Free Software Foundation, who apparently compared this to a Cigarette manufacturer handing out free samples of cigarettes. It got me thinking on what exactly does this Agency do and what have they done that makes the MS effort like that of a cigarette company. Education - cigarettes- the connection misses me- but then, maybe I am just slow :)
I searched the net and came to their site. I looked for some idea on what they have given/ what they have - after all it is the "FREE software foundation".. and this is what I saw. So the gist of the list of "free software" they have listed includes all of 23 software (this includes utilities & libraries). To me this reeks of a anti-Microsoft tirade as opposed to objecting to something that genuinely requires help.
This is the ailment that affects India. Some people forget a good cause and the results that it drove. I am sure Microsoft, notwithstanding, its positioning by the Linux players, has done more good than what many company together have achieved. I don't say this because I work in Microsoft, but I genuinely believe this company has done a LOT to change the lot of the people in India - and the other parts of the world.
Give due credit where it is due. Comments like are upsetting because it reflects the lack of depth in many organizations who hide behind the "freedom of speech" to just condemn any good. All without really doing much for the people who need it the most.
http://www.gnu.org.in/fsdirectory
Microsoft has trained 200,000 teachers in India on the use of computers, ahead of its original target to train 80,000 teachers in the country during the five-year period ending December this year, it said.
The company introduced the program, called project Shiksha, in 2003 with the objective of raising the computer literacy of Indian teachers and students in government-run schools. The 200,000 teachers trained so far have in turn trained about 10 million students, a spokeswoman for Microsoft India said on Monday.
The moves by Microsoft to offer free or subsidized software in India have however come in for criticism from the Free Software Foundation, which compared Microsoft's philanthropy to that of a cigarette manufacturer handing out free samples of cigarettes to students.
The communist-run state of Kerala in south India is actively promoting open-source software in schools, but most other states and the federal government are beneficiaries of Microsoft's programs.
Microsoft works with state governments to help teachers use its technology in school administrations and also to include it in their curriculum and teaching methods, she said. While the state governments provide the classrooms, Microsoft provides the hardware and software, and a team of trainers for the teachers.
Although the company has reached its training target, it's not stopping the program yet. It did not say how many more teachers and students it plans to cover under the program, though.
The company has introduced low-cost, starter editions of its Vista operating system, as well as local language versions of its Office suite to target both the academic and e-governance markets.
