Candid camera catches 'em young

AHMEDABAD/VADODARA: Some techniques being practised by Gujarat''s schools may just make youngsters camera-shy. For, in order to catch students copying and teachers napping, closed circuit cameras are being installed in classrooms.
In Firdaus Amrut School, for instance, a class 10 student was recently caught on camera switching answerbooks with another classmate during an exam."He tried to deny it but when he saw the television replay in my office, he could not escape," says school director Ratnadeep Padmanabh.
Each of the 30 classrooms at Firdaus has a closed circuit camera fitted unobtrusively in a corner of the room, with the television in the director''s office receiving transmission.
"The idea was to bring in discipline and to use technology to aid the process of teaching. With these cameras, our teachers feel relaxed while taking their classes, as they know that even if they can''t keep mischief-makers under control, I will," he continues.
Among the added benefits of the system is that it facilitates two-way audio and one-way video communication.
The principal can address anyone from his office and they can reply. Using the same technology, principals say, one teacher will be able to teach students of three divisions simultaneously from a one place.
What is surprising that a grant-inaid school, such as Firdaus, can afford such technology. "The investment is not much. We shelled about Rs 2 lakh, and don''t expect the running costs to go over Rs 15,000-20,000 a year. We are planning to get cameras installed even in our primary school," Padmanabh says.
The New HB Kapadia School will also, very soon, have an audio-visual surveillance system in place. "Monitoring classroom activities has become incumbent to improving educational standards," says school director Muktak Kapadia.
In Vadodara, the Gujarat Public School installed cameras in the library, kitchen, playground and corridors and classrooms.
"During exams, the students will feel they are being watched and abstain from cheating. And many students who just while away their time in the library will also be more careful," says Sapna Gupta, managing trustee of Gujarat Public School.
Says Amita Mehta, administrator of Ambe Vidyalay, "We have closed circuit television connected to 64 cameras at various places. These cameras are used during exams for keeping a vigil on students and they make day-to-day administration much simpler."
However, some schools find this technology unethical. "I feel such a system inhibits children further from expressing themselves in class, as they are conscious about the camera watching them. Also, there are lot of things they would want to share with their teacher, which should be kept sacrosanct. So, I do not approve of this technology," says director of Swastik School, Raja Pathak.