AmritaCREATE labs was invited to showcase their Rural India Tablet Education (RITE) initiative at the launch of READ Alliance by USAID and Center for Knowledge Societies (CKS). The launch event served as a platform to showcase the work of institutions like Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham who are addressing the challenges of Early Grade Reading (EGR).   

READ Alliance is a USAID funded program that targets improvement the status of early grade reading in India through new collaborations and high impact Innovations. The launch brought together corporations, NGOs, foundations, policy makers, administrators, education experts, researchers, entrepreneurs, schools and teachers to strengthen early grade reading in India. Other exhibitors included JPAL, Pratham, Katha, Hippocampus and Stone 2 Milestones.

Amrita RITE (Rural India Tablet-enhanced Education) is a new educational initiative that was launched on September 27, 2013, on the occasion of Amma’s 60th birthday. Amrita RITE aims to bring quality education content to children and adults in rural and tribal areas of India through low-cost tablets as part of Amma’s vision for transforming Indian villages. To overcome the challenges of low reading rates, lack of quality teachers, educational aids and technology, Amrita RITE uses a combination of traditional methods such as assessments, guided reading, and hands-on activities along with innovative low cost tablet technology that do not require internet access. Simple educational apps such as reading labs on tablets can motivate students to learn and enjoy reading and give them confidence to attend school regularly and at their appropriate grade level.

The RITE program has been deployed in 13 states in India so far – Kerala, Bihar, Goa, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Odhisha, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. Tuition Centers have been set up in these villages to provide extended-day tutoring to school-going children in primary grades. Teacher training is also an integral part of this program.

At the READ Alliance launch, our research staff explained the Amrita RITE action plan to the visitors and demonstrated the different interactive educational applications, simulation games and social awareness stories and videos developed by AmritaCREATE for tablet-based education.

SEE ALSO: AmritaCREATE labs

March 13, 2014
AmritaCREATE