In a big snub to OLPC, The Economic Times of India reports that Education Secretary Sudeep Banerjee strongly disapproves of the One Laptop Per Child idea, calling it "pedagogically suspect." and believes the money would be better spent on universal secondary education. To quote Secretary Banerjee
"[The OPLC] may actually be detrimental to the growth of creative and analytical abilities of the child".I think we can safely cross India off the OLPC list.
"Even if the idea was acceptable, we cannot visualise a situation for decades when we can go beyond the pilot stage. We need classrooms and teachers more urgently than fancy tools,"
"If the Planning Commission has the kind of money that would be required for this scheme, it would be appropriate to utilise it for universalisation of secondary education."