Social and Economic Technology - 3.1. Description for the parent.
A new form of Distance learning for children.
Secotek is distance learning at community level, not Inter school level.
Schools now a days are specializing under the umbrella of offering more parental choice. However, in rural areas, Local Education Authorities are quite normally only prepared to transport children to one school only. This may not be too unreasonable, from the point of view that transporting children is a very expensive activity that makes rural children significantly more expensive to educate than their town equivalents. To transport children to a different school privately is beyond the financial resources of most families. It has been shown time and again the transporting of children is also very undesirable for the social well being of the children. The general behavior on "long distance" school buses is a very negative at best, and very stressful ate worst. (It is accepted that busses carrying school children are not fit to carry fare paying passengers. What a state of affairs!) There are also underlying cultural costs. The children loose village identity, which "Secotek" will not be able to effectively revitalize if that issue is not tackled. On top of that there is the issue that in practice there is often no parental choice at all. If a parent does not approve of one designated school, there is nothing that can in practice be done about it.
There is a solution, and a cost effective solution. Welfare and pastoral issues could be dealt with locally. The children would physically attend a school that is situated in their village, a school open to all age groups. Inside there, the child should be able to attend a school of family choice, in an intensely interactive atmosphere, but remotely. The methods of teaching not being significantly different to now. This is making the social environment of school children remarkably similar to the adults using a Telecottage to work. This is both intentional and desirable.
For adult working, the principle has been shown to be practical and effective. For schoolchildren the concepts are new and unproven, but there is no reason why it should not be the solution to education in rural areas.