School 'asks' 840 students to buy iPads

Podar International School, Santacruz wants to introduce apple iPad2 for students of Std VI to XII; some parents feel that the Rs 40,000 expense is unnecessary.

"We moved from blackboards to interactive boards and from there to laptops and now, it is the iPad2."  -” Vandana Lulla, Director, Podar International School.

The government may be patting itself on the back for creating the world's cheapest, Android-based tablet Aakash at not more than Rs 3,000, but the homegrown gizmo is clearly not the Apple of this posh city school's eye. 

The middle and high school education at Podar International School in Santacruz seems ready to integrate Steve Jobs' legacy in daily learning. In a recent circular dated December 9, the school management informed parents that it has decided to introduce iPad2 in classrooms from the next academic year. While some parents welcomed the move, others feel the fancy tablet is not feasible for children.

Some parents have their reservations about the concept. K Mahesh (name changed), a parent of a pupil at Podar school, said, "I was a student once and I know what education is. If you change the syllabus, that is digestible. But if you change the system with some weird logic, it is problematic. I want my kid to follow the existing method of education that millions in this country are following, and setting a benchmark for others. I am not against the use of iPad. But I do no find it feasible for my kid."

Lulla said, "After observing how gadget-savvy students have become and how they are familiar with iPads, I took the initiative to introduce the iPad2. It will help students to retain the content. They can download as many textbooks as they want. Further, a research by a laptop manufacturing company concluded that more use of technology has improved the performance of students in subjects like Biology, Chemistry, History, and Earth Science."

Expert says

Jayant Jain, president of Forum For Fairness in Education and All India Federation of Parent Teacher Association, said, "If the school is so keen to bring in technology, parents should be given a choice to buy any company's tablet. But nowhere did the circular mention this. Nor did it say that parents who do not wish to buy their child an iPad2 could learn from interactive boards. This implies that it is mandatory for all. Also, the parent will have to bear the cost if the child drops and damages the expensive gadget. They are in a learning process, so why can't they be given cheaper tablets which can be updated by the school." 

Numbers
On an average, there are 30 students in one class in Podar and each class has four divisions. As such, there are approximately 840 students in the school from grade VI to XII.