Honorary doctorate for 'Hole in the wall' to Indian Professor by TU Delft
10 Jan 2011
Delft University of Technology has awarded Professor Suguta Mitra from India an honorary doctorate. He received the award for his work showing that children can learn by themselves and from each other without formal education if their curiosity is stimulated properly, which he calls 'Minimally Invasive Education', he was awarded an honorary doctorate on 7th January, 2011
In 1999, Professor Sugata Mitra cut a hole in the wall of his office in Delhi, India, right next to a slum district. In the hole, he installed a computer complete with internet access, that only children could reach and use. He then went on to study how the children learned and taught each other how to use this completely unfamiliar technology. For his research into self-organised learning, which he calls 'Minimally Invasive Education', for which he was awarded the honorary doctorate.
Recognition"Professor Mitra has devoted his work to helping children who have no access to education, in places where schooling is by no means a matter of course", explains supervisor of honorary doctorate Prof. Wim Veen from TU Delft, Professor in Education and Technology. "This is an especially noble and important endeavour and TU Delft is delighted to show its recognition by awarding him this honorary doctorate."
"In his pioneering work, Professor Mitra has proved that children are capable of learning and teaching each other a great deal, if no rules are imposed on them and their curiosity is sparked in the right way. Their lack of familiarity with the jargon does not hold them back; they simply make up their own. For example, they call the mouse the 'needle'. What's more, the fact that the children cannot speak English does not prevent them from learning to use the internet", says Prof. Wim Veen.
Inspired by the work of Professor Mitra, Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup wrote the novel Q&A. It was made into a film in 2008, Slumdog Millionaire, which went on to win eight Oscars.
