Goa, Google sign MoU to promote digital literacy

‘Internet Safety Education’ for students to be unveiled

August 31, 2016 02:12 am | Updated 02:12 am IST - PANAJI:

The Goa government on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Google India to promote digital literacy and drive a digital transformation across the State.

Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and Vice President, Google South East Asia and India Rajan Anandan, signed the MoU.

The Chief Minister said the scope of this association would be expanded to unveil a digital literacy drive amongst women in Goa, programmes to help small and medium businesses, besides a mobile app development skilling programme for start-ups to take advantage of the growing digital economy.

As a first step, the Goa State Government will unveil ‘Internet Safety Education’ for students in Goa in association with Google India. The State government has approved the inclusion of internet safety education as part of the school curriculum of classes IX and XII in government schools.

Google has created a curriculum in consultation with experts, and has also developed and shared modules for integration in the existing curriculum. As part of the programme, it has initiated teacher training and will soon expand to cover 460 schools, teaching over 80,000 students on how to stay safe online, said Mr. Anandan.

“The Internet today is an essential part of the learning experience for students and it’s important that they understand how to use the medium responsibly and stay safe online,” said Mr. Parsekar.

Mr. Anandan said the scope of the MoU envisages Google India and the State working collaboratively to make all government sites mobile-friendly, to introduce programmes to help local small and medium businesses stay safe online.

It will also aim at driving awareness and help businesses adopt measures to safeguard themselves online, putting the rich cultural heritage of Goa on the global map, and so on.

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