News

Slumdog trail leads to UK

The man who inspired the 'Slumdog Millionaire' story delivered the keynote speech at the Montessori Centre International's annual awards ceremony on 3 December.

Sugata Mitra, who is now professor of Educational Technology at Newcastle University, was responsible for a ground-breaking experiment which saw Indian children independently learning through a planted computer in a New Delhi slum in 1999.

A computer was embedded 3ft high into a slum wall and a secret camera filmed children who had no access to education exploring the internet. These videos were part of the inspiration behind author Vikas Swarup's novel Q&A, which went on to be made into the Oscar-winning film 'Slumdog Millionaire'.

Professor Mitra said, 'At the ceremony, I showed videos of my work in India and explained how the ideas travelled from the slums of India to the UK and changed completely.

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included

  • Free access to 4 subscriber-only articles per month

  • Unlimited access to news and opinion

  • Email newsletter providing activity ideas, best practice and breaking news

Register

Already have an account? Sign in here