AmritaCREATE recently developed Amrita RITE (Rural India Tablet Education) with the aim to provide after-school tutoring and adult literacy in rural and tribal villages of India, with the help of tablet computers. The programme was recently launched in the Wayanad district of Kerala, India on 28 December 2013.

Amrita RITE in the Wayanad was inaugurated by Ms.P.K.Jayalakshmi, Hon’ble Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Tribes and Youth Affairs, Government of Kerala at Mata Amritanandamayi Math (M.A.M), in Manathavady. Brahmachari Akashayamrita Chaitanya, M.A.M, and Prof. Prema Nedungadi, Joint Director, AmritaCREATE, were also present for the inaugural event which was attended by over 70 children and their families from Wayanad district.

Addressing the crowd, Ms.P.K.Jayalakshmi said, “The Kerala Government appreciates and supports the different initiatives put forward by Mata Amritanandamayi Math for the welfare of disadvantaged sections of society. Through this project, the rural and tribal people of Wayanad will be introduced into the world of touch-based technology and it will be a unique experience for most of them!”

Brahmachari Akashayamrita Chaitanya, M.A.M, emphasized that education is imperative for rural and tribal people’s development and helps them overcome different kinds of exploitation that they face in their daily life.

The children who participated were mainly from rural Government and tribal schools. Students were allowed to play basic arithmetic games on tablet, after which they were shown different educational applications and simulations developed by AmritaCREATE. The students were highly enthusiastic when they went through ‘Aksharamala’, one of the educational applications that teaches users to read and write basic letters and words in regional language ‘Malayalam’ using touch-based technology.