U.S. Delegation Visits American School's Novel Computer Learning Program for Slum Children

April 13, 2006

New Delhi – A Congressional delegation led by United States Senator Michael B. Enzi (Republican, Wyoming) and the U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today visited a novel computer education program for slum children. The delegation also included U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander (Republican, Tennessee) and Johnny Isakson (Republican, Georgia).

The “Hole in the Wall” program in Vivekanand Basti in Chanakyapuri is a computer kiosk promoting informal learning for at-risk children. With minimum adult involvement, the children have learned all Windows operational functions and are able to draw and paint pictures on the computer. They can load and save files, run educational and other programs, browse and surf the Internet, as well as send and receive e-mail, download music files, and do simple troubleshooting.

The “Hole in the Wall” is sponsored by the American Embassy School in partnership with the American Women’s Association (AWA), the non-governmental organization Disha and the National Institute of Information Technology (NIIT).

The U.S. delegation witnessed firsthand the benefits the program brings to the children. A representative of NIIT briefed the delegation about the “Hole in the Wall,” and Disha representatives described the educational activities in slums and the innovative pedagogy used to make learning joyful for vulnerable children. Delegation members also interacted with women members of self-help groups and watched an educational puppet show.

Hole-in-the-Wall Education Ltd. was established in 2001 to research and scale-up the idea of informal education without adult supervision. In partnership with USAID, Disha, a voluntary, non-governmental organization working for socio-economic development of underprivileged sections of the urban and rural community since 1992, provides educational support to 3,500 vulnerable children that include street children, working children and children of sex workers in six slum clusters in Southwest Delhi.