Abstract
Access and exposure to the mass media and to computers are still very limited in India, even in urban areas. Some experiments in Media Education have been conducted outside the school curriculum. The Central Government has launched a pilot project in Computer Literacy and Studies in School (CLASS) in 248 higher secondary schools and an evaluation of it has been commissioned. This paper sketches the media and computer scene in India, the policies of the Central (Federal) Government on media, computers and school education and computer literacy. Some preliminary findings of a media survey in Bombay's secondary schools suggest a wide interest among students, teachers and parents in media education and computer education. The paper concludes with a plea for a bringing together of the two areas of study because of the intimate connections between them - as reflected in the terms 'compunications' or 'telematics' — not as vocational professional subjects but to promote critical thinking about the new media, especially about their role and influence in our society and the international context in which they function.
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