Cost-effective science education in the 21st centuryÐthe role of educational technology*

The nonavailability of low-cost, simple and reliable equipment which is easy to fabricate and easy to maintain is one of the major obstacles for improving science teaching in developing countries. In this context, UNESCO in association with the Committee on Teaching of Chemistry (CTC) of IUPAC and the erstwhile Committee on Teaching of Science (CTS) of ICSU initiated a Project Locally Produced Low Cost Equipment (LPLCE) for Teaching of Chemistry in India in 1979. In the two decades since its inception, the LPLCE Project has shown that a variety of cost-effective solutions are possible based on locally available materials and electronic components. The Indian Project has also gone beyond the problem of equipment by initiating work in microprocessor-controlled instrumentation, educational software, lowcost computer interfacing, Desk Top Publishing, audiovisual aids, interactive multimedia modules and small-scale chemical techniques.