NIIT, Intel & MP join hands on ICT project for schools

NIIT, Intel, the Madhya Pradesh State Electronics Development Corporation, and the MP government have joined hands on "Gyanodya", an information communication technology (ICT) enabled education project in the government schools.

The pilot project is being rolled out in the Government Excellence Higher Secondary School, Budni.

Consistent with the vision of emerging as one of the India's most progressive states, the Madhya Pradesh government has decided to enable its youth with the best of technology and education.

The government hopes to extend this initiative to the students across all the socio-economic strata, including the rural and inaccessible corners of the state.

Madhya Pradesh State Electronics Development Corporation (MPSEDC) will oversee the successful implementation of the project.

"We are happy to be a part of this revolution to develop the ICT enabled education for school children in Madhya Pradesh. NIIT's initiative of introducing this is an essential step towards arming the children with tools to excel in their career and life," L Balasubramanian, president of NIIT's K-12 business, said.

As part of this initiative, the NIIT will deploy 'eGuru', its most popular and widely accepted virtual computer based teaching solution, besides providing faculty, teacher training and courseware. Intel will provide necessary infrastructure in schools.

In this project, it is introducing a specially designed 'robust' computer that can work for up to six hours even without electricity, thus making it ideal for the rural areas.

Director CSG South Asia, Intel Technologies Pvt. Ltd Surendra Arora said, "Intel invests more than $100 million per year, across 50 countries worldwide in programmes for students and teachers that will promote deeper learning and inspire future technologists. The investment with state of Madhya Pradesh in setting up model schools by deploying state of art technology and associated training modules is a part of this overall strategy."

The total cost of this pilot project is Rs 40 crore for a year. The contract includes two schools, one each in Budni and Narsingarh and a college.

The project includes setting up of civil infrastructure by MPSEDC,hardware by Intel, content and courseware development by NIIT.

NIIT has also got the courseware translated in Hindi and training about 600 students. NIIT will provide two faculty members per school and a project manager to look after the project.