Anundoram Borooah Award Scheme:Impact Assessment Study

ForJune 2010 @AMTRONAMTRON

Acknowledgement

We express our sincere thanks to the Chief Minister of

Assam, Shri Tarun Gogoi and Minister of Information

Technology, Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma for establishing

ARBAS. This scheme alone speak volumes about their

foresightedness and commitment for changing the

mindset of the youth of the state.

We express our deepest thanks to Mr M K Yadava,

Managing Director, AMTRON for allowing us to

conduct the independent assessment of Anundoram

Borooah Award Scheme.

We express our thanks to Deputy Manager, AMTRON,

Mr Mukul Kalita for his constant involvement and

guidance in the study.

We owe a great many thanks to all the ARBAS

awardees without whose participation the study

would have been a distant dream.

Contents

INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................3

STUDY HIGHLIGHTS................................................................................8

AWARDEE PROFILE .................................................................................9

USAGE & SATISFACTION.......................................................................19

Usage ............................................................................................20

Satisfaction....................................................................................30

SOCIAL IMPACT ....................................................................................31

Recognition ...................................................................................32

Case Study .....................................................................................33

Awardee Outlook...........................................................................34

METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................36

ABOUT THE AUTHORS ..........................................................................37

Introduction

The prestigious Anundoram Borooah Award (ARBAS), instituted by the State Government of Assam in 2005 by Chief Minister Shri Tarun Gogoi, is a scheme which awards high school graduates with personal computers on achieving first division (greater than 60% marks overall) in their school leaving examinations. ARBAS provide citation in the form of a Certificate along with a personal computer (PC) to honor the meritorious students securing First Division in the HSLC, High

Madrassa and FM Examinations conducted by SEBA and State Madrassa Education Board, Assam. The scheme is synonymous with the Assam Electronics Development Corporation Limited (AMTRON), a Government of Assam Undertaking which has been instrumental in implementing the award scheme.

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Around 17,000 to 19,000 students receive the award with the scheme involving an outlay of approximately 30 to 40 Crores for the government every year. Under this scheme, in 2009 each awardee was provided with a 15.6” TFT monitor, 160 GB hard disk, UPS and CPU with 2.4 GHz processor and 1 GB RAM.

Number of Awardees

Widespread Impact:Over 72,000 awardees in the past 5 years!

17,084

2008

13,352 12,594

2006 2007

2009P

2010

17,13719,034

12,756

2005

P: Projected for year 2010

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The award was instituted in the honour of Late Anundoram Borooah, an Assamese and a sanskrit scholar, who was also the first Indian to be appointed as Deputy Commissioner under the erstwhile Indian Civil Service. The award was instituted to infuse healthy competition and motivation among young students. After five years of successful operations, the ARBAS scheme is widely acclaimed to be one of the most successful schemes in Assam.

The Anundoram Borooah Scheme has been widely acclaimed as one of the most successful schemes of the Government of Assam, of which there does not seem to

be a parallel anywhere else in the country

Introduction to Anundoram Borooah

Anundoram Borooah, born in Rajaduar, North Guwahati on 21st of May 1850, was not only a extraordinary scholar, but also the first Assamese and fifth Indian to join the Indian Civil Service. He was the first Indian Civilian to be appointed as a District Magistrate.

Anundoram completed his school education from the Guwahati Government Seminary (now known as the Cotton Collegiate School), passed the entrance examination of Calcutta University in 1864

and joined the Presidency College. He graduated in 1869 and topped in the examination held by the College to select candidates for studies in England. He arrived in England in the spring of 1869. He was selected for the Indian Civil Service in 1872. He served in many capacities in Assam and the undivided Bengal.

Anundoram published some important and rare Sanskrit classics such as Mahavircharita, Saraswatikanthabharna and Namalinganusasana, along with his own commentaries, among them noted being Janakiramabhashya. His other works include “Bhavabhuti and His Place in Sanskrit Literature” and “Ancient Geography of India”. He started compilation of English Sanskrit Dictionary during 1873-74 and completed the same in 1877. Anundoram, also known as Assamese Amarsingha, for having mastered Amarkosa at an early age of fourteen, planned his magnum opus in twelve volumes on Sanskrit Grammar, an enterprise more arduous and prodigious than undertakings of any other scholar of his time. Two of the volumes, which he could bring out alone before his demise, were devoted to prosody and lexicography, and the elicited admiration of Max Muller.

Anundoram breathed his last on the 19th of January, 1889. During a short span of a decade and half of his administrative and literary career, Anundoram, amidst engrossing duties of his office, devoted himself to literary creations of formidable volume, reflective of his innate prolific erudition. His life was an embodiment of dedication and hard work. He was undoubtedly, one of the finest civil servants and a great scholar that Assam ever produced.

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In the fifth year of the award scheme, TechAtEdu has undertaken an independent assessment of the award scheme to understand the satisfaction levels of the awardees with respect to various aspects of the scheme and to understand the key issues that need to be addressed in order to better deliver the intended benefits of the scheme to the target population. In this context, TechAtEdu has undertaken a primary research study of the scheme by surveying recipients of the award scheme across the 27 districts of the state to understand their background, usage of the awarded PCs and their outlook towards the scheme's positives and drawbacks.

About the Report

Highlights

TechAtEdu's report “Anundoram Borooah Award Scheme – Impact Assessment” analyses the awardees of FY 2009-10 and FY 2008-09 in their usage of PC awarded and perception toward the award scheme. The survey was carried out across 27 Districts in Assam by interviewing 2,104 awardee students. Following are the highlights of the study:

Majority of the students are satisfied with the quality of the PCs provided to them.

Of the displeased students, the quality of the UPS has been the key cause for dissatisfaction, this could be due to poor power scenario.

A significant number of students are not able to use the awarded PCs as they have to move out of their home for their higher studies.

Lack of awareness of opensource benefits has resulted in several students switching over to Microsoft Windows.

Internet usage is very low among awardees which has also hindered maximization of open source knowledge/ usage.

Paradoxically, affluent awardees use open source software more than awardees from economically challenged families.

Recognition for the girl awardee has been a major positive factor among families and has helped improve societal attitudes to educating women.

There is a considerable increase in the number of students securing first division since the inception of the award, with clear feedback from students indicating that the prestige of the award has increased motivation.

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Awardee Profile

The ARBAS Programme has Reached Every Corner of AssamImpacting the Lives of Thousands ofYoung Students across 27 districts

Every year thousands of young students across the state appear for the high school examination. In 2010, 2,70,930 students appeared for the exam. Of these 1,71,276 passed their exams. However, only 11% of these (19,034 students) achieved 1st division and hence were eligible for the award under the ARBAS programme.

Among the ARBAS Awardees, more than one fifth awardees are from Kamrup district. Apart from the Kamrup district, the division across all the other districts is more or less equivalent. This has been the trend since the past 5 years.

The number of awardees under the award scheme has been growing at a CAGR of 9.2% from 2006 to 2010. Kamrup accounts for maximum number of awardees winning under ARBAS scheme since inception of the award. No other district accounts for more than 7% of the awardees and most of them have seen a stable contribution of awardees over the years. But districts such as Baksa and Udalguri have been progressing in the number of awardees.

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Udalguri & Baksa - Rapid growth in share of awardees from zero to 2% in last two years

Kamrup has 1-in-5 awardees under ARBAS. However, Kamrup’s share has fallen from over 25% in 2006 to 20% in 2010 – other districts are rapidly growing in share of awardees

Percentage Contribution of Awardees

Less than 5%5%-7%20%

The Award has Highlightedthe Progressive Gender Ratios inAssam's Educational System

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Though the majority of the ARBAS awardees are male (57%), the females are not far behind (43%). In an encouraging sign, the proportion of female awardees has witnessed growth by 2% over the past 5 years.

Awardees: By Gender

Male Female

43%

57%

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Science Leads Among OptionsChosen by Awardees

Science is the most preferred subject followed by commerce and arts amongst male students. While in case of female students, preference of Arts stream prevails over commerce stream. Over half of the awardees choose to study science after their matriculate exam.

An almost equivalent proportion chose commerce and arts (19% and 18%, respectively), however, just 7% opted for other courses like BBA, diploma courses, etc. While the proportion of males choosing to study commerce and other diploma courses is almost equivalent to the proportion of females, but in case of arts stream the proportion of females is almost triple that of the proportion of males (28% of the females vis-à-vis 10% of the males). A small percentage (less than 3%) of the students were found to be discontinuing their studies because of financial problems being faced by their families.

Of the students who chose science as their stream, about two-thirds are males and just one-third are females. However, it's the converse in case of arts stream, where two-thirds are females and one-third are males. Of the students choosing commerce, 55% are males and 45% are females and among the students going in for diplomas, 61% are males and 39% are females.

Science Leads as the Most Preferred Stream Of Study after Matriculation

Awardees: Stream of Study

Science

Commerce

Arts

Others (BBA/Diploma etc.)

57%19%

7%

18%

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A large share of 77% of the award recipients live with their parents. The proportion of those living in a hostel/PG/rented/shared accommodation increases among those who come from households with income levels above Rs. 50,000 – one-third of such students live in a hostel/PG/rented/shared accommodation.

Majority of the Awardees Livewith Their Parents

Today, young Assamese are moving out of their homes and staying in hostel in pursuit of higher quality education. Out of all the respondents surveyed, approximately 22% live in a hostel/PG/rented/shared accommodation and just 1% live with relatives. Of those living in outside their homes, the majority are males (63%).

Awardees: Residence

At home with parents

In a Hostel/PG/Rented/Shared Accomodation

With relatives77%

22%

1%

Awarded PC: Location

Current place of residence

Somewhere else

20%

80%

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The location of the PC is not always with the awardee. The survey indicated that ~20% of the students did not have their PC with them and among the students living in hostels, nearly 80% didn't have their PC at their place of residence. The inconvenience of transporting the systems to the place of study/ hostel/ outside accommodation was cited as the key reason behind not having their PC with them. A high need and desirability of a laptop was noted among such students.

This was also compounded by the fact that a small percentage of the awardees (primarily in the less than Rs.10, 000 per month income bracket) sold their PCs when moving to a new location for studies.

Almost One - Fifth of the Students do not have PC in their

Current Location

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Almost 33% of the awardees use the PC every day with 1-in-4 awardees using it once in 3-4 days, while another fourth hardly use it. The segment of the population staying away from their place of residence constitutes the bulk of the segment that hardly uses the PC. Also, as could possibly be expected, frequency of usage has been much higher in the awardees coming from the higher income bracket.

Majority of Awardees Use PC at least 3 days/week

Only One - Third of the Awardees Use the PC Daily

Frequency of PC Use

Every day

3-4 days a week

1-2 days a week

Hardly

33%

26%

23%

18%

The overwhelming majority of the awardees are not aware of open source software, i.e., freely available software on the internet which does not require license. Although the PCs are provided with Ubuntu, a free source OS, the awareness of open source software is still low because most of the award beneficiaries install MS Windows OS. One of the surprising findings is that the higher income bracket awardees seem to be the most prolific users of open source software, which might be driven by access to information and resources, whereas awareness and usage are low among the lower income brackets. While the government does issue a manual to assist awardees with the basics, a more comprehensive information docket and / or training might be useful in improving awareness and usage.

Lack of Awareness of Open SourceSoftware is a Major Handicap

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Awareness of open source software correlates to household income

Open Source Software:Awareness

Aware of Open Source Software

Unaware of Open Source Software

13%

87%

Up to5,000

5,001-10,000

10,001-15,000

15,001-20,000

20,001-25,000

25,001-30,000

30,001-50,000

Above50,000

Income in Rupees

5%11%

13%

14%

15%

14%

16%

43%

Awareness of Open Source by Income Segments

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Of the awardees that are aware of open source software, 12% have never tried it whereas out of the awardees that have used it, the majority 82% find it useful, and only 6% do not find it useful. Considering it's free availability and with a majority of users finding open source software useful, students across all households should be given adequate exposure and made aware of its use and presence. This will especially benefit students from lower income households who cannot afford to purchase different software solution. Driving trial, providing information/ training could make a significant difference to the impact of open source software.

Open Source Software found useful by four-fifth of its users

12%

82%

3%3%

Open Source Software: Opinion

Not useful

Does not work

Useful

Have not tried

Majority of ARBAS awardees arefrom families with income less thanRs.15,000 per month

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Nearly 58% of the award recipients are from households with income below Rs.15,000 per month. While 4-in-10 awardees are from households with incomes between Rs.15K-30K per month, and only 5% are from households with incomes above Rs. 30,000. This highlights the fact that majority of the beneficiaries of the award may not be otherwise able to purchase PCs which are priced at more than a month's household income for them. Clearly ARBAS significantly benefits such families.

Awardees: Monthly Household Income Level

Up to5,000

5,001-10,000

10,001-15,000

15,001-20,000

20,001-25,000

25,001-30,000

30,001-50,000

Above50,000

Income in Rupees

9%

26%23%

17%

3% 4%1%

17%

Almost 60% of theAwardees

Usage &Satisfaction

Award Attractiveness: OverwhelmingMajority Accept the PC over money

Of the total respondents, 13% of awardees opted for cheque. One third of awardees receiving the cheque used the amount for buying a PC or a laptop with their own choice of configuration. Another one third of the awardees preferred cheque over PC as they already owned a PC.

Under the ARBAS scheme, an awardee is provided with an option of choosing a cheque of fixed amount or the PC. An overwhelming majority of awardees are inclined towards receiving the PC with a small number of awardees preferring cheque over the PC. The incidence of accepting a cheque in lieu of the PC was higher in cases where the awardee already owns a PC or if the awardee's household income is very low.

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Only 4% of the awardees owned a computer before ARBAS award

Forms of accepting the award

4%

87%

4% 5%

Received a Personal Computer (PC)

Received a Cheque and bought a PC

Received a Cheque and did not buy a PC, already had a PC

Received a Cheque and did not buy a PC, and currently have no PC

Usage

Rest of the awardees receiving cheques do not own a PC. Half of them feel that they do not need a PC, while one-fourth face monetary problems and so did not opt for the PC. The rest of the awardees plan to purchase a PC in near future with the award money.

An overall 87% students opted for the PC as award. Of these, 4% claimed to have received a PC but have sold it due to reasons such as the family’s financial problem or dissatisfaction with the PC. Majority of them have low household income of less than Rs. 5,000 per month.

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Income Wise Distribution of Awardees Who Received a Cheque, Did Not Buy a PC and Have no PC

Up to5,000

5,001-10,000

10,001-15,000

15,001-20,000

20,001-25,000

25,001-30,000

30,001-50,000

Above50,000

Income in Rupees

13%

6%

3%

1%0%

5%

2%

3%

Almost half of the students who opted for cheque, did not buy a PC and never had a PC at home have monthly income of less than

Rs. 10,000 per month

Usage

The Awarded PCs are Predominantlyin Working Condition

An overwhelming 92% of the awarded PCs are in working condition and only 8% require repairs. Most of the repair work was related to UPS and the second most common cause of complaints was the monitor. Satisfactory working condition of PC translates into the user satisfaction with the computer, its parts and finally the scheme. In a few cases, awardees reported that low availability of servicing options of the PCs was a concern.

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Working condition of PC translates into scheme satisfaction

Condition of Awarded PC

8%

92%

In working condition

Not a working condition, requires repairs

Usage

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The PC is a “Family Device”in Awardee’s Household

The awarded PC is being used primarily by the awardee as well as his/her siblings. Parents use it in just 19% of the cases, though in households with higher income groups the proportion of parents using it is noticeably higher. The award has been helpful in exposing siblings to technology.

PC Usage

TheAwardee

Awardee’sSiblings

89%

19%

64%

Friends/Neighbors/Relatives

4%

Parents No-One

4%

In fact, in cases where the awardee is living in a hostel/PG/rented/shared accommodation, the PC is lying idle in 1-in-10 cases. In 4% of the cases it is being used by friends/neighbors/relatives and in another 4% of the cases it is lying idle as the awardee has relocated for higher studies and no one else in the family knows to use the computer.

Usage

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Entertainment and education are the major purposes of PC usage with 80% of the awardees using it for entertainment/gaming and 71% for educative purposes. Another interesting facet is that in 1-in-10 cases, the PC is used for work or professional purposes indicating the multi-purpose use the awarded PC has in the awardee household.

7-In-10 AwardeesUse the PC for Education

Purpose of PC Usage

AccessingInternet

Study/Education/Learning

11% 9%

71%

Entertainment/Games

80%

Work/Job/

Business

Education is a Key usage factor for the Awarded PC

Usage

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Only 17% of the ARBAS award winners have an internet connection. In some of the cases, the receipt of the PC drove the interest in accessing the internet with 7% subscribed to an internet connection after winning the award, while 10% had a connection even before winning the award. There is a small but noticeable difference between the genders here with only 5% of the girl awardees subscribed to the internet as against 8% of the male awardees.

Small but significant percentage of awardees subscribed to internet post receiving the award

Lack of Internet ConnectionViewed as Major Drawback

Subscription to the net has also been influenced by the income levels to some extent – with the households with lower incomes subscribing proportionately less.

More than 40% of the students subscribing to internet have household income of more than Rs. 20,000 per month

Up to5,000

5,001-10,000

10,001-15,000

15,001-20,000

20,001-25,000

25,001-30,000

30,001-50,000

Above50,000

Income in Rupees

2%6%

9%

18%

5%7%

9%6%

Internet subscription vis-a-vis the household income

Internet Usage

Subscribe to net after winning award

Always had netconnection

7%

10%

83%Do not have net

connection

Usage

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While 69% of the internet using awardees access the internet for entertainment/gaming, an almost equivalent 68% access it for education/ learning. Barely 5% access internet for work/business and just 4% use it for banking and other online services. Lack of access to internet is due to non-availability and difficulty in affording it. Though the PCs have reached all nook and corner of Assam, but internet has not. The Government of Assam needs to take a major initiative in this direction to empower the rural youth.

For the Internet Users,Entertainment & Education are Equal Attractions

Purpose of Internet Usage

Study/Education/Learning

Banking/Other online

services

68%

5%4%

Entertainment/Games

69%

Work/Job/

Business

Usage

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Government Need to Allocate MoreResources to Popularise Opensource

Ubuntu was provided as the default operating system (OS) with the award PC but majority of the recipients have uninstalled Ubuntu and installed Microsoft Windows on their PC. This indicates the popularity of windows and reflects the lack of knowledge and awareness about the advantages of Free and Open Source Software among the awardees. A huge 90% of the PCs use Windows as their OS, while 5% use Ubuntu, 3% use Linux and just 1% use Unix. Lack of familiarity with the open source operating system, inability to use desired programs on it and lack of resources were cited as the key factors driving the switchover to Microsoft windows.

Awarded PC: Operating System Used

5%

90%

3%1%

1%

Windows

Unix

Abuntu

Linux

Others

Usage

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Awardees Using MultipleSoftware Packages on the PCs

The awardees have been very proactive in installing numerous software packages of their interest on the PCs with various entertainment, professional and office packages dominating the usage. As can be expected, entertainment leads the usage with music software like Winamp being most commonly installed, followed closely by video players. Microsoft Office too has widespread usage coming in at the third most widely used software package. Several professional packages like accounting, image editing & programming software are also being used widely among the awardee community.

Software Usage

Software to Play music and Videos on the PCs are the Most Installed

Office/Productivity

Accounting

18%

84%

22%

VideoSoftware

74%

MusicSoftware

PhotoEditor

ProgrammingSoftware

Games

64%69%

29%

Usage

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1

Recipients Are Satisfied with Accessories

The majority 80% of the awardees have not bought any accessories for their PC. Of the accessories purchased, printers and speakers seem to be the key accessories in demand.

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Accessories Bought

80%

7%

None

Speaker System

5% 1%

10%

Printer Scanner

Others

Usage

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PC Performance Leading toAwardee Satisfaction

Majority of the award PC users are satisfied with the configuration of the PC thprovided. More than 3/4 of the awardees are highly satisfied with the

performance of processor, memory, UPS, monitor and the operating speed of the PC. Nearly 2% were highly dissatisfied.

The general performance problems faced by awardees were related to malfunctioning of UPS and monitor in some cases.

Satisfaction Levels with PC

ProcessorSpeed

Monitor OperatingSpeed

Memory

1%2%

5%16%

77%

1%2%

6%17%

75%

1%2%

6%19%

73%

1%2%

6%15%

77%

Highly Satisfied

Somewhat Satisfied

Neither Satisfied Nor Dissatisfied

Somewhat Dissatisfied

Highly Dissatisfied

Satisfaction

Social Impact

The ARBAS Award has Strong “Merit Recognition” Social Statusin Assam

In the course of five years of implementation of ARBAS, people have started associating the award with the social standing of awardees and their family as well. A majority of awardees agreed that the award has helped enhancing their social standing. This is more prominent a feature among the award recipients from districts other than Kamrup.

Recognition

Opinions: Award Improved Societal Recognition

93%

3%4%

Yes No

Don’t know/Can’t say

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Even among peers, a recipient's social standing increases. This has been especially relevant for the standing of the girl awardees. 77% of the recipients feel that the award helps in enhancing the standing of the girl students in society. This was corroborated with a large majority of 86% of the girl awardees stating so

All Awardees Male Female

16%13%

71%

12%

10%

77%

7%

7%

86%

Yes No Don’t know/Can’t say

Opinions: Award Improves Social Standing of Girl Awardees

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Case Study

Can a boy who was born to gatekeeper and has two siblings ever dream of becoming a computer professional? The answer will ring as “No” for most of us. But ARBAS has proven this wrong by not only providing the boy with a computer but encouraging him, his siblings, parents and neighbors to help him achieve his dreams.

This is the true story of Pankaj Kumar Shah, who was born to Ram Prasad Shah in Guwahati. Ram Prasad works as a gatekeeper in a private organization and earns a meager salary to sustain his family. He realized the importance of education in today's life and was determined to expose his children to the education.

Pankaj got to know about ARBAS through his seniors in school who won the award. Being form a poor family he could not have afforded a PC and he sought ARBAS as his only way towards technology. He studied hard for his HLSC exam and secured first position in 2006. His hard work paid off in the form of ARBAS. After winning the award, Pankaj had an option of selling the PC and arrange some money for his family but his father encouraged him to learn about computers and aspire for a professional course. But affording electricity was a steep challenge for the family. Moved by the situation, their land lord Mohammed Naseeruddin Ahmed decided to provide a power connection so that Pankaj can operate and learn computer.

As a result of his efforts, Pankaj is now pursuing a distant learning course of Bachelor of Computer Application from Sikkim Manipal University and plans to pursue Masters in same course. He is striving hard towards his dream. He provides tuitions to school children to support his family financially. He also encourages his siblings to study hard to achieve the award.

Pankaj Kumar Shah

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Awardee Outlook

With ARBAS recognizing the students' talent and awarding them, the award is not only acting as a motivating force in improving their outlook on education but also helping improve their skills for future jobs.

Almost half of the students agreed that the award was the motivating force for them to choose science as fields of study, with majority of them desire to choose career fields related to scientific studies. Almost 86% of the awardees agreed that the award helped improve their outlook on education/career. The majority of the awardees believe that the awarded PC has also helped improve skills/ability for jobs in 84% of the cases, thus acting helping in giving them an edge over their peers.

Award improvedskills/ability for job

86%

9%

Award improved outlookon education/career

Award Impact

84%

9%

Yes No

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Almost All the Recipients are Extremely Satisfied with the Award Under the Anundoram

Borooah Award Scheme

ARBAS Awardee: Taking Home the Satisfaction and

Motivation to Move Ahead in Life

An overwhelming 98% of the recipients are satisfied with the award, of which 92% are highly satisfied. Only 1% of the awardees are dissatisfied with the award scheme. As evident from the survey it is apparent that ARBAS has successfully managed to achieve its goals and has created an impact on the society that it intended to bring in.

Highly Satisfied Satisfied

Neither Satisfied Nor Dissatisfied Dissatisfied

Awardees: Satisfaction with ARBAS Scheme

92% 6% 2% 1%

MethodologyAnundoram Borooah Award Scheme has been a well established award scheme instituted by the government of Assam. Making the program financially viable and executing it on a state level has been a mammoth task. The program has touched and impacted a majority of young students in Assam. Almost 19,000 students receive the award every year. In order to gauge the impact of award on the usage of PC awarded, girl child empowerment, impact on awardees’ career,perception among students, parents and society, TechAtEdu carried out detailed face-to-face interviews with the awardees across urban and sub-urban areas in the State. The interviews were conducted on the basis of selected parameters for the study.

The samples were selected by “probability proportional to population (ppp) with replacement” method. The data of Anundoram Borooah Awardees for 2008 and 2009 was used to identify the sampling frames for urban & rural and gender based survey frames. The object of Stratification was implemented with an objective to (i) increase efficiency of the survey design, and (ii) ensure administrative and operational convenience. The field data was collected by data collection agents hired by TechAtEdu. The field data was organized and studied using SPSS after suitable verification and validation of responses to eliminate errors.

Coverage

The research was conducted based on the following coverage:

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Scope Number Details

Districts 27 All districts in Assam

Respondent Sample Size 2104 12% of the total number of awardees in 2009

Urban 631 30 % of the total sample size

Rural 1473 70% of the total sample size

Male 1226 Representative number of total male awardees

Female 878 Representative number of total female awardees

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About the Authors

Priyank is the Senior Analyst with TechAtEdu. He

has significant research experience with

Evalueserve and Capgemini. He tracks the Indian

Education space. His past projects were related to

market sizing, industry overview, competitive

analysis, and company profiling. He has also

worked on web-technologies for more than a year. His passion for

discovery and thirst to engage in new challenges lend immense scope

and dimension to this field.

He holds a certificate in business management program from IIM

Calcutta and an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering.

He can be reached at priyank@techatedu.com

Priyank Jain

Madhu Sudhan is the Chief Editor of TechAtEdu.

With significant experience in the media and

research space, also he has a deep

understanding of the education sector. He has

considerable experience with the Network18

group and in consulting major KPMG. He holds

a degree in business management and an

undergraduate degree in electronics & communications engineering.

He can be reached at madhu@techatedu.com

Madhu Sudhan

Research Team

A special thanks to for conceptualizing

and executing the report design.

Sushil Kumar

Key members involved in field research, validation

and analytics.

Photo - Left to Right: Prachi Bansal, Lata Pattra,

Shiv Kumar, Arusha Mishra and Jyotsana.

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