IIT Madras Pravartak Technologies, Vidya Shakti to bring education to 100 villages in Varanasi with 'Online Classes & VR'

The primary objective of this collaboration is to address the educational disparities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly between urban and rural students. The curriculum focuses on essential language skills, mathematics, and science fundamentals.

Chennai: IIT Madras Pravartak Technologies Foundation has partnered with 'Vidya Shakti' to revolutionize education in rural areas of Uttar Pradesh by leveraging the power of online classes and virtual reality (VR). The groundbreaking initiative has already been implemented in 100 villages across the Varanasi District, offering Hindi Medium sessions to students in grades 6th to 8th.

The primary objective of this collaboration is to address the educational disparities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly between urban and rural students. The curriculum focuses on essential language skills, mathematics, and science fundamentals.

Through the integration of innovative technologies, student retention rates have seen a significant increase. STEM teachers bring VR headsets to classrooms, allowing them to interact with educational content in an immersive environment. Each science and math concept is accompanied by short 3D videos, enabling students to visualize and comprehend complex topics. The sessions are made interactive through question-and-answer segments, ensuring a memorable learning experience for the students.

IIT Madras Pravartak Technologies Foundation, as the Technology Innovation Hub of IIT Madras, operates as a not-for-profit Section 8 company funded by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems. 'Vidya Shakti,' an initiative of OpenMentor, was established in 2009 as a Corporate Social Responsibility endeavor by Softsmith Infotech Private Limited.

Its primary goal is to provide online education and skill development opportunities to students across the country. In addition to online courses in industry-relevant software skills, Vidya Shakti offers recorded sessions and online exams for self-evaluation and practice.

Highlighting the distinctive aspects of this initiative, Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director of IIT Madras, expressed, "At IIT Madras, we firmly believe in our responsibility to motivate young children, especially those from rural India, to pursue higher education and provide them with the necessary guidance and counseling. Vidya Shakti is a collaborative project involving several like-minded organizations, including IIT Madras, committed to improving our country's Gross Enrolment Ratio.

The Rural Interaction Centres established in Uttar Pradesh under our Vidya Shakti project will work towards achieving this crucial social objective. The success of the RICs established in Tamil Nadu during the academic year 2022-23 has encouraged us to scale this concept to other states."

The project implementation involves STEM tutors equipped with three to four VR devices for each session. These tutors visit one school in the morning and another in the afternoon. After briefly explaining the concept, students are divided into small groups and asked to view the VR videos to experience the subject matter firsthand. The tutor engages students with questions while the video is playing, fostering greater responsiveness, communication, and participation among the students.

P. Nagarajan, Managing Trustee of Open Mentor Trust and Vidya Shakti, elaborated on the initiative, stating, "Due to teacher shortages and the mass migration of educators from villages to towns, children in rural areas lack proper access to additional complementary tuition classes. Our online classes bridge this gap. It is crucial to inspire children at a young age, and our virtual reality kits have created a tremendous buzz in schools, as students can now visualize what they study. Through this scalable model, our aim is to reach every child in every village."

The unique aspects of the Vidya Shakti initiative include live online classes conducted in the students' mother tongue, a slow-paced teaching approach to ensure comprehensive learning, the utilization of simulation software for conducting experiments, and the inclusion of daily aptitude questions to prepare students for future challenges.