EmTech Spl:Taking education to rural youth

While in many of the sessions, the government sector was taking a bashing for not being conducive to the growth of IT, there were a few enterprising people who have been proactive and taken their own initiatives. Bijender Khokhar of UP-based Value Based Skill Academy is one such individual who has spearheaded a project in Western UP that brings education to the rural youth. In conversation with Ruth Samson of CyberMedia

Could you tell us a little about your project?

We have a setup that is focused towards offering education on mobiles so that it can reach the so called “bottom of pyramid” section of society. Our academy has been working with rural youth since the past four years.

We decided to take this project forward when we discovered that physicality of getting things together for an educational setup was difficult. That’s when we decided to go for this model.

The concept sounds strikingly similar to an advertisement launched by Idea Cellular some time ago!

I would say they copied the idea from us (laughs). Actually the concept would seem similar. However, let me say that there are a lot of differences. You could say they are cousins.

What is the technology you are using and which vendors are you working with?

We are using a plethora of technologies which include Internet, mobile, web conferencing and SMSing. In terms of vendors, again we are working with a number of majors such as Virgin Mobile, Airtel and BSNL.

What are the challenges that you are facing?

We want to tell companies that corporate social responsibility should be part of their business strategies. It’s not always about technology and money which is the direction most companies are focused on.

What is your vision for the company?

Society needs to re-engineer itself. With our project, we are taking social issues along with technology implementations. Our focus is heavily on training and taking up social issues. As of now our operations are limited to UP, but in another four to six months we will do a big national launch.

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