Advertisment

Rajasthan to gain from public-private partnerships

author-image
CIOL Bureau
New Update

NEW DELHI: The Government of Rajasthan, the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), the Global e-Schools and Communities Initiatives (GeSCI), a initiative of the UN ICT Task Force and the World Economic Forum (WEF) have launched a new initiative aimed at improving public education in Rajasthan through an extensive program of public-private cooperation.

Advertisment

The Rajasthan Education Initiative (REI) would work on a two-pronged effort aimed at balancing the goal of achieving "Education for all" (EFA) with that of providing improved opportunities to gainful employment in India's fast growing knowledge-based industries.

One, technology based education will leverage the power of ICT to improve the learning sills and competencies of students and two, to create and enabling environment aimed at social responsibility programs for holistic development of the child.

Over 50 organizations participated in two planning meetings convened in

Jaipur over the past four months and helped shape a public-private partnership (PPP) model aimed at making it one of the largest and most comprehensive efforts of its kind.

Advertisment

PPPs incubated under the REI will focus on the creation of low-cost solutions that will provide opportunities for those at the bottom of the pyramid. Several PPPs have already been developed that leverage the strength of India's ICT industry as well as its well-developed civil society organizations and its active diaspora.

These include Cisco, Intel and Microsoft as well as the Hole-in-the-Wall initiative. Non-profit organizations include the Azim Premji Foundation, Akshaya Patra, American India Foundation, Aga Khan Foundation, Bodh Sanstha and Educate Girls Globally, which have all begun work in various districts across Rajasthan.

Speaking on the occasion, Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje Scindhia said, "Rajasthan had missed the IT bus and we want to make up now. With this initiative, we want to help leapfrog a whole generation by providing computer training to both teachers and children. The investment in this initiative cannot be quantified as all the players are bringing in expertise, investment and man-hours. The commitment is in terms of number of teachers and students that would be education under REI."

tech-news