Akshaya Patra launches digital education programme to support education of govt school children

 

Bengaluru: The Akshaya Patra Foundation and NTT Limited collaborated to provide Android tablets to 235 students of Government Girls High School and Government Girls PUC in Basavangudi to mark the launch of the Foundation’s Digital Education Initiative. Akshaya Patra is implementing the initiative with the support of corporate donors and BYJU’s to bridge the digital divide and further digital inclusiveness by providing students belonging to economically weaker sections of the society access to good quality, modern education for free of cost.

The chief guest for the launch event was Sandalwood star Mr. Shine Shetty. Mr. Prasad Mokkarala, VP – Managed Services NTT; Mr. Ravi Kalghatgi, VP – Support Services NTT and Mr. Raj Kumar, DDPU, were also present on the occasion. The event was presided by Shri Naveena Neerada Dasa, Director Strategic Communications, The Akshaya Patra Foundation and MR. Sundeep Talwar, CMO – Akshaya Patra.

As a part of their CSR initiative, NTT Ltd is primarily focused on interventions in the area of Education, Health and Hygiene, Skill Development and Women Empowerment. Further to their CSR efforts, NTT is now supporting Akshaya Patra’s Digital Education Programme, which seeks to facilitate competency-based learning while focusing on inclusiveness and contributing to the Government’s vision of Digital India. Each tablet is pre-installed with BYJU’s learning application to ensure that children have access to high-quality and tech-driven learning programmes. The tablets were distributed among students of 8th to 12th standards, providing them access to JEE, NEET and Karnataka CET preparation material.

“It is an honour for me to have this opportunity to launch Akshaya Patra’s Digital Education Programme. In the post-COVID era, with everything going digital, there is a need to strengthen the digital education domain by introducing necessary interventions. Akshaya Patra has been providing its services across the country to address the issue of hunger. I am happy to see that they have now taken a step further to ensure that children are assured of quality education alongside a nutritious meal. We need more such organisations to come forward to support such a noble cause. I wish the children and Akshaya Patra the very best for their future,” said Kannada TV actor Mr Shine Shetty.

Expressing his gratitude, Mr Sundeep Talwar, CMO, The Akshaya Patra Foundation said, “Our vision that ‘No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger,’ is in direct alignment with our conviction that education is the only way to nurture a happy future of this country. We firmly believe that no child should remain uneducated due to the lack of access to the Internet or the right technology. We are immensely grateful to NTT Ltd for supporting our ‘Digital Education Programme.’ Their support enables us to do more and bring about significant change in the lives of the children. We hope this collaboration will continue on this path for many more years to come.”

“A fundamental right of every child is to get ‘Quality Education’, irrespective of their socio-economic backgrounds. We firmly believe that digital inclusiveness can help in creating a world where children from economically weaker sections do not have to forfeit opportunities because of affordability or accessibility issues. The cornerstone of our philosophy is centred around bringing a tangible impact to our existing education ecosystem, and we are honoured to have partnered with The Akshaya Patra Foundation and strengthen our social impact initiative,” said the Vice-Presidents of NTT Ltd.

Akshaya Patra also aims to support aspiring senior secondary students who want to appear for competitive entrance exams in the field of engineering and medicine. It is working with teachers to support these students in the delivery of well-researched academic content. As part of this initiative, selected students will receive internet connectivity for two years to support their learning.

The digital academic content from BYJU’s will focus on helping students from class 9 to 12 by providing them access to study material for subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, social science and commerce. It will also provide them access to study material for the preparation of competitive exams such as the NEET, JEE and Karnataka CET.

The content will be made available in all vernacular languages, in a way to focus on ICSE and CBSE boards, along with other state boards, including Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Telangana and West Bengal.