Assam CM Initiates “Computer Assisted Education” In Another 200 Schools

Assam CM Initiates “Computer Assisted Education” In Another 200 Schools

• To cover English, Science, Maths, Social Science and Computer Education.
• NIIT expertise to bring joy to another 1.5 lakh students.

Guwahati, March 27, 2005: Hon’ble Chief Minister, Assam Mr. Tarun Gogoi dedicated “Computer Assisted Education” in 200 schools in the State here today. This ambitious project championed by Hon’ble Chief Minister, Assam and supported by Minister of State, planning and development, Finance and G.D. Deptt. Mr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, will teach English, Science, Maths, Social Science and Computer Education to 1.5 lakh students of Secondary Schools as part of the “Rajiv Gandhi Computer Literacy Programme (RGCLP)”.

At a function attended by the officials of the Education Department and Assam Electronics Development Corporation (AMTRON), the Hon’ble Chief Minister, Assam Mr. Tarun Gogoi said, “Assam Government is committed to accelerate the use of Information Technology in Schools by integrating computers in School education. Through this initiative we are preparing our children to be successful in today’s technology-led world.”

Hon’ble Minister of State for planning and development, Finance and G.D. Deptt. Mr. Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “Phase-I of the project has received very good response. With Phase-II just launched by Hon’ble Chief Minister, Assam Mr. Tarun Gogoi, we are well on our way to cover almost all the Govt. High Schools soon.” Assam has the unique distinction of being the first State in the country to take steps to cover all the 630 Higher Secondary Schools under RGCLP, having implemented it in 200 schools in the Phase-I and adding another 200 schools in the Phase-II, just launched in the State.

IT Training pioneer, NIIT has been chosen to mould 1.5 lakh students of classes V to XII in 200 Govt. Schools into IT-savvy citizens of the future. As part of the Phase-I, NIIT successfully implemented Computer education in 140 schools across the State.

In a message on the occasion NIIT Chairman and Co-founder Rajendra S. Pawar said, “We are proud to partner with the Assam government in realizing its vision of ‘Building a Computer Literate India’ and creating a groundswell of IT literate youths.”

Based on experience in the first phase of the project, the Government has provided a generator set in each school to ensure uninterrupted power supply in the Computer Lab.

After honing the skills in the basics of Computer, the students will learn English, Maths, Science and Social Science using Computers. They will also be able to accomplish a host of other activities like learning and speaking English as the world speaks it, dissecting a frog without wetting their fingers with blood all the way to understanding the Pythagoras theorem with the help of interactive visuals providing a powerful tool to demonstrate science.

One special feature of this project is that it strives to provide quality Computer Education to the students of the Govt. Schools without charging a single farthing from them and the vernacular medium schools have been brought to the fold of this ambitious project.

Speaking on the occasion, President of NIIT’s K-12 Business L. Balasubramanian said, “In addition to training 1.5 lakh students, NIIT will also train over 2000 school teachers to empower them to train learners in Science, Maths, Social Science and English.”

“NIIT will deploy its vast experience, of training over a million students in 2500 schools annually, in 340 schools in Assam–from Dhubri District in the extreme west to Tinsukia in the east,” he added.

This programme, apart from benefiting the children, will create employment opportunities for over 1000 local educated youth. In long-term the Assam government initiative in partnership with NIIT hopes to create a pool of skilled IT manpower ready to harness the immense potential that the world of IT offers.

Asia’s largest IT Trainer, NIIT will also work towards enhancing the skill base of youth in Assam by using these schools to provide State-of-the-art computer education to local citizens in the post school hours.

Since 1999, NIIT@School has successfully worked with 371 Government schools in Tamil Nadu; in 700 Government Schools in Karnataka; in 663 Government schools in Andhra Pradesh and 98 schools in West Bengal.

With the Assam Government order, NIIT’s training engagement now covers nearly 2500 Government and Private schools in India covering over 1.3 million students.

About NIIT
NIIT, an acknowledged leader in the IT and IT-assisted training space offers Learning and Knowledge Solutions in 33 countries. Training over 500,000 learners annually, NIIT is the only Asian Education and Training Organization to feature among the IDC Top 20 Global IT Training market leaders, for four consecutive years.

NIIT's education offerings include: GNIIT—an industry-endorsed program for students seeking careers in the IT and BPO segments; CATS—offers training programs on advanced technologies for IT professionals; Swift—a platform for equipping ordinary people with basic computer skills; NetVarsity.com offers a blend of content, technology and services, and NIIT@School—a turnkey, IT integration program that provides computer-based learning in government and private schools.

NIIT's range of offerings in the e-learning domain are bolstered by its SEI CMM Level 5 assessed Knowledge Solutions business (KSB), which has emerged as a leader in the field. NIIT KSB offers integrated learning solutions that range from strategy and design to development, implementation and administration.

Its customers include Fortune 500 Companies, Universities, Technology Companies, Training Corporations and Publishing Houses.

For media queries, please contact:
Sanjiv Kataria, NIIT Limited., Ph: +91 11 26482054, Fax: +91 11 26203386; Email: sanjivk@niit.com