Intel’s Failed Attempt To Digitize Education In India

The processor maker Intel in attempt to bank on the education vertical in the country has launched Education 2 in 1, which is a rugged device offering the convenience of both a laptop and a tablet.

The device generates power from a quad-core Intel Atom processor and runs on Windows 8.1 and offers a battery backup of 7-8 hours as a tablet and 11 hours in its laptop form. The device according to the company is primarily targeted at school students to make their learning an entertaining task.

No doubt it’s a good initiative by the company to upgrade the level of education in the country with the launch of this rugged device which packs in features like Shock and water resistance. But the key question which arise here is that how successful will this ‘educational’ attempt be in a country like India where the entire digital ecosystem has narrowed itself to the Metros only?

Learning from the UP government’s initiative of distribution of free laptops and tablets to students to brighten their future, which ended up as a disaster with majority of the students willing to sell off their laptops, Intel’s attempt appears to meet the same fate.

Intel Officials themselves agree that Indian ecosystem at present is not ready to implement the adoption of smart devices in educational institutions.

‘’Its like a Chicken and Egg situation in India. Despite the fact that there is no infrastructure for proper utilisation of these devices, we have to start from somewhere,’’ says Rajiv Bhalla, Director, Market Development, South Asia.

The hurdles doesn’t  just end here, Apart from the absence of a basic IT infrastructure which includes availability of a consistent high speed network, service support for the devices etc. There is a complete lack of Human resources in the country which could help students to enhance their skills using these devices.

‘’Forget about rural areas, majority of teachers in tier2 and tier 3 cities of the country are not computer literate,’’ says Deepak, an independent analyst.

With a price tag of INR 24,000, the Intel’s 2 in 1 is deemed to become a mere play toy of the students studying in the Elite Schools of the country, who to be honest have access to more sophisticated devices than the new offering by Intel.