Dr. Sugata Mitra, Senior VP - R & D NIIT

How did the concept of 'The Hole in the wall' come about ?
It started from the so-called "Digital Divide" but has given us a new pedagogy. It started with a simple guess that as far as learning to use a computer goes, children don't need to be taught. If you give them the computer and if you allow them to work in groups, then they learn by themselves.

Now in retrospect, most people find it obvious but in 1999 it was not so obvious. If you install a computer in a slum, a couple of days later you will find that the children have started browsing and doing all kind of things and, at that time, people got curious about who was teaching them. I had to repeat this exercise many times with different groups of children to show that it does not matter who or where they are, they will teach themselves anyhow.

It will happen in a place where there is no knowledge of English. We were able to prove that language does not matter, age does not matter, gender does not matter, their socio-economic status does not matter, nothing matters as for 6 to 14 years age group. The only requirement is safe, public access to computers. Basically an environment where children can feel free to experiment without any worries about exams, teachers etc. Keeping the computers in the school is not the right place.

We thought of community centers but soon realized that parents are not willing to send their children to the community center- specially the girl child. Finally the school play ground turned out to be the right place where children feel free and safe as well. So, I started putting computers in the playground.

It got called "Hole in the wall" because the first one was behind a rectangular opening in a wall with the computer screen behind a glass pane. This was an exercise to show that children will explore it and learn to use it. Using it means understanding basic window functions and the Internet.

There are now eighty-eight "playground" computers at 22 locations in rural India.

After all most five years of experimentation all over India, the digital divide to my mind is non-issue, it is a question of access. It is a significant finding but still there is a misconception that until you have a school with computers and teachers you cannot cross the digital divide. These 88 computers have been installed from 6 months to two years ago.

The people of the villages are reporting some changes that are very interesting. They report certain behavioral change, for instance the children have learnt to co-operate with each other, they have made time slots to access the computers, a spirit of togetherness has developed, self discipline has improved a lot. It was certainly unexpected that these kiosks will cause social and behavioral change.

The other interesting difference between the industrial and the information age is that in a "have-have not" situation children always fight while in a "know-know not" situation they learn to work with each other. Lastly the most important finding their teachers' report is that the children have academically improved a lot and as well as their English.

They can now concentrate better, say some teachers. Maybe this happens because when they are left unguided, they are continuously solving problems. So, what started of as a computer literacy experiment is now converting itself into a primary education experiment. This program does not have any restriction in terms of number of students in a class and it provides equal opportunities to children from 6 to 14 year olds. Sometimes it has been seen that the younger children learn faster than the older ones.

There seems to be much more then just computer literacy happening at these kiosks, and we are trying to study that. In last four years we have also learnt how to install computers in villages and to keep it running in public, open places, which is, by the way, not at all easy. Computers are designed to be kept in airconditioned offices, so when you put them in the field they tend to break down.

We have a full engineering design for how such public, outdoor kiosks are to be built. Another problem, since all these villages are pretty much in the interior, how will we come to know that a particular computer is on or off, how children are using it, for how long the computer is on etc. We now have a system of remote monitoring software. So, sitting in my Delhi office, I can actually see what is happening to the computer, if it is working, what is happening on screen, when the internet is connected..

I think for this experiment and especially for rural areas the ability to track and measure what is happening is very important. The plans for how to design and construct a kiosk are available for free and we will give it to whosoever wants it. However, if somebody wants proprietary materials, such as the touch mouse, the faceplace, the keyboard cover and protector, software etc., that has to be paid for. So, what I am telling people is that if you want just a plan you can take it for free and if you want the plan and the proprietary hardware and software then there is a cost. Also if somebody wants assistance in building this kiosk, we offer consultancy.

We also do "Build, Operate Transfer" type of work. So, in the context of NGOs, I would say that whoever is planning to make a kiosk somewhere, it would be kind of sad if they go and repeat the mistakes we have already made, so they should consult us before starting it on their own. It can be useful not only in the area of primary education but also there are hundreds of uses of putting a computer in a rural area. In the last four years wherein I have spent most of my time in villages I am happy to say that we are getting very good reviews from local people.

I was amazed to see that poor people are paying the electricity bill on time so that the computers keep working. They are doing it for the development of their children. They report us the developmental changes among their children. It shows that they do have priorities other than things which we think are the only "necessities". We are now trying to find out a proper business model for playground kiosks, basically how to keep the project running. You cannot ask children to pay for it, parents might like to pay but how much they would be able to pay is a different matter.

My feeling is that it should be looked as an integral part of the primary school; if that happens then perhaps we can get funds from the central government. Without the Internet it costs below Rs 2 lakhs to build one kiosk with three computers but if you want to add the Internet then the cost shoots up to Rs Five lakhs for the same thing.

According to our survey the cost involved comes out to be Rs 2 per child per day, which is also the cost of the mid meal facility run by government. I think it is a good time to do it, as clearly, given access, one generation will change very rapidly much more than it can be changed using formal education. Also running cost is not that high and I feel that this is an issue where the government has to look at some subsidies.

Hole in the Wall Concept was used to teach the children on basic computers in Internet Skills.
How can this be broadened to basic education - languages, Math, History ?
We are making a portal, where children are free to go if they want to. This portal directs them to other material available on the Internet, which is relevant to the CBSE curriculum, so it is like a cyber library.

As there is a limited amount of regional language content, I chose the English language by default but what is amazing that the children don't seem to care. Initially they complain, but soon they actually start making efforts to understand the language.

Initially the children were just playing on the computer but, given the access to portal, they have started visiting educational sites.

Eight year olds are like sponges; they absorb information faster than anyone else. Rural India can benefit from this, because that is where information inputs are lacking.

There are a couple of Corporate / NGOs who have developed CDs on Basic Education.
Are you willing to collaborate with them on doing basic education programs in your kiosks ?
Absolutely, in fact websites like yours can help me do that. If you put this up there, then you can mention that I would be more than happy if somebody wants some material to be put on the portal, which can be accessed by the children.

What are the typical problems in programs like the Hole in the Wall ?
There are actually several problems and several solutions. Firstly the biggest problem is the access of this computer facility by adults. We have a design, which prevents access by adults.

We have kept the computer at low height; there is a cowl on the top of the keyboard that can prevents large hands from using it. There is also a sitting rod which is only comfortable for children.

We have a child friendly and adult unfriendly design. We put a board outside mentioning that this facility is free for children and that all activity at the kiosk is monitored from Delhi. This helps a lot.

Another problem is that of maintenance. Even though I can make out that the computer is down, but what do I do sitting here? What we do is to have contact with a nearby computer center but we are not happy with this arrangement.

We pay 12% as maintenance charges, but the service is not good. We are looking at how to make the system more rugged, so that it requires very little maintenance.

What is the community participation in the Hole in the Wall ?
The community is very positive about the whole initiative, sometimes even ecstatic about it. So far I was using World Bank money and a part of NIIT money to build kiosks.

Now I am asking communities if they can take charge. But I don't have complete answers as some of them have welcomed the idea and have agreed to continue it, but there are also people who have rejected the idea of putting in their money.

But I have a feeling that most of the communities will find a way to keep it running.

Can the "Hole in the Wall" Program be used as a Community TV giving information to Women on Savings, Basic Health Tips and also sharing Public Messages by Celebrities on HIV, Child Marriage etc ?
It could be, but I have mixed feelings about that. In principle if a machine exists, you can put anything on the screen, and if the Internet facility is provided, then you can have live broadcasting.

During my research, I have not seen a single community center, where people gather around and listen to some message on AIDS or family planning etc. In many villages, the government is running a scheme called 'Community Information centers" wherein they have provided computers in the community centers.

But, I have noticed that most of the time they are empty and often not in working condition. Why are these community centers empty? I think because everything on those computers are terribly GOOD that nobody is interested in it!

I keep telling people that you should have mainly entertainment and then, in between, give your educational message as that is the only way it will work. A big example is the way cable TV became successful.

It started with purely entertainment programs and gradually moved to news and educational channels. You cannot do it the other way around. The approach needs to be changed.

What is the response to your "Sponsor the Hole in the Wall" and "Sponsor a Child Scheme"?
Very good. The International Finance Corporation (World Bank), who did the funding, finds the results very interesting and in particular the behavioral change.

I am hoping that we will be able to go a little bit further. The issue I am interested in now is - if it can affect the school examination results of children, which would make it a very useful investment. Just computer literacy results do not work, it should have more benefits.

I have seen these kiosks attract children like a magnet all the time, so maybe we can use it to some extent to provide 'Values Education".

Basically, the knowledge to understand what is right, what is wrong, how to distinguish between good and bad. Too little of this is happening in our primary education. If certain amount of value education is possible, it would be a big achievement.

What is the investment of NIIT in the Hole in the Wall ?
In the last five years we have spent approximately Rs 12 Crores, of which
Rs 7 Crore are given by IFC, Rs 3 Crore from NIIT and the balance
Rs 2 crores have come from the Government of India, Government of Delhi and the ICICI bank.

It is very important to name these people because relatively there are very few institutions which are seriously working on the issue of primary education. The reason for this is that in primary education the pay off period is after seventeen years. It does not interest most people, so they all focus on Professional education.

I am very grateful that that these organisations have supported the project, particularly the Government of India. They have presented five such kiosks to the Government of Cambodia and the results are almost identical.