PANJIM: GEIT is a project for the community, of the community and by the community. The project Goans Empowered with IT (GEIT), has been taken up under the aegis of Goa IT Professionals Group (GITP) in Goa. The primary objective of GEIT is to empower the children and youth, more specifically, the students in the rural areas of Goa with latest trends in technology. This was made possible with the help of about 25 volunteers.
Project GEIT was specially coordinated by GITP’s Vice President Vincent Toscano who took a major step forward this Diwali vacation with their 9-day computer programming camp for students of classes 6-9 in 3 Goan village schools ie St Bartholomew’s High School (Chorao, Tiswadi), Azmane High School (Neura, Mandur, Tiswadi) and Dayanand Bandodkar High School (Gokulde, Padi, Quepem). More than 60 students from these three schools attended this camp between November 16 and 25. The curriculum was based on Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA) computer programming platform called Scratch.
It also helped to shift the focus of children to creativity, learning and productive aspects of the computer and Internet, instead of the negativity like pornography that they unfortunately got exposed to, via the disastrous school Tablets scheme by the Goa government few years ago.
Project GEIT was woven around the broad theme of technology empowerment of Goan youth for quality employment. The primary target audiences for the project in its first phase are secondary level students from rural schools in Goa. GEIT aims to reach out to young minds, fuel their creativity and turn it into passion. GEIT team members believe that such passionately carried out works in domains of one’s choice can transform lives and societies.
Principal of St Bartholomew’s High School, Chorao Aveline Dancho spoke to Herald and said, “Students were very enthusiastic and they wanted to have such programmes in the future too. I shall be happy if GEIT continues their effort to train these young minds which shall surely benefit them in present and in their future too.”
Principal of the Azmane High School, Neura, SP Naik told Herald that, “It was an excellent programme which was liked by the students. I wish such programmes continue for the benefit of the students. It would be great if it is planned is a proper manner so that the students can also plan their schedule.”
“None of us from the GEIT team had done anything similar prior to this. But all of us share one thing in common –our immense love for Goa and a strong desire to reach out to Goans. What drives us is the common experiences we share. Each one of us has experienced the pain of a near and dear one leaving the state for better prospects. Our team members had to experience the irony of people from all over the globe wanting to come and have a second home here in Goa and we the children of this land forced to move out unwillingly. Project GEIT is our effort in finding a solution to the problem of this brain drain,” Leader of Project GEIT Sangeeta Naik told Herald.
Vice President of GITP and the back-up lead in GEIT programme Vincent Toscano said that in future GEIT will spread out to more schools and it will be carried out with the help of a template which they are creating. “This year we had received a great support from out network in social media. We hope that we continue to get support from all so that the students from the rural Goa are benefited,” said Vincent Toscano. GEIT is also planning to set-up state-level free library and several state-level competitions on Scratch in February 2016.
