Intel, the world's largest chip maker and leading manufacturer of personal computer, networking and communications products, seeks to broadbase the learning systems in rural India through a highly innovative programme called `Computers for you'. Last week, Intel, in association with the National Science Centre (NSC) in Delhi, introduced a mobile van fitted with three multimedia computers that will visit the hilly region of Uttar Pradesh, and conduct interactive sessions with students, parents and village authoritiesunder the supervision of a computer trainer. The programme itself is part of an ongoing Intel education initiative in India called `Project Vidya', the objectives of which are (I) to create awareness about the benefits of multimedia computers and Internet as a tool for learning among children, educationists and parents, (II) to promote faster adoption and usage of multimedia computers in schools and at homes, and (III) to catalyse availability of relevant educational and `edutainment' titles at affordable prices.

In fact, this concept of a mobile multimedia unit is an extension of the `Computers for You' programme that NSC conducts on a regular basis in the villages to promote awareness and interest in science. Intel's contribution to this awareness programme is in developing the multimedia unit.

Over the next 12 months, this van is expected to cover almost 60 villages, reaching out to over 4,000 children per village. Based on the success of this initiative in the UP hills and the northern plains, Inteland NSC would develop similar programmes for several other parts of the country. Of course, that would call for an increase in the number of mobile multimedia units. At a press meet that preceded the inauguration of the mobile unit in Delhi, Atul Vijayakar, director, South Asia, Intel, said his organisation initiated this programme to improve the effectiveness of the education system in the country. ``Multimedia computers are interactive and have the potential of retaining the interest of children in their studies,'' he said. Intel had conducted a pilot programme in Oon and Karnal in Haryana with a mobile van fitted with a multimedia computer. ``More than 10,000 children visited the site during this exercise,'' he said. ``That gave us the impetus to launch this programme,'' he added.

``We also plan to train a sub-section of our target audience on the use of computers. Our objective is to help children rediscover the joys of learning,'' Vijaykar said. Reknowned scientist A R Verma, chairman of the IndianInstitute of Information Technology (IIIT), Hyderabad, said: ``This beautiful experiment will trigger higher learning among children in the rural areas.''

``As more people get interested and become successful, there will be greater business activities for Intel,'' he said.

However, he felt that local language software needs to be developed to make this programme more effective in the villages.

Vijaykar said the success of this programme would depend on the availability of appropriately trained teachers. Intel has already initiated a teachers training programme at the Cyberskool at NSC, Delhi. The Intel Cyberskool, a state-of-the-art multimedia lab, was inaugurated in May 1996 by Intel's president Dr Craig Barrett. Intel also set up a Cyberskool in Mumbai sometime later. A company release states that ``over 50,000 children and 5,000 teachers are exposed to computers annually through the Cyberskools.''The Cyberskools also organise regular creativity workshops for children and special workshops forunder-privileged children.

According to Debjani Ghosh, education programme manager, the multimedia unit (mobile van) will show programmes on subjects like the Panchtantra, the festivals of India and such other programmes that are visually appealing and educative. ``This is a useful medium for popularising science among the children. For instance, to explain the solar system, a multimedia programme will be much more effective than a typical classroom session. Of course, we need to develop the `edutainment' software in local languages,'' she says.``At the same time we have to build an awareness among people regarding the use of multimedia computes. The Cyberskool at the National Science Centre in Delhi has been set up to build this awareness among children, teachers and parents,'' she says. The next stage of Project Vidya is to make computers adoptive in the rural areas. ``Schools are willing to spend on computers. In fact, most schools look for new technology these days instead of buying old computers,'' shesays. ``In the villages, we have to improve the availability of cost-effective hardware, work on training of teachers, customise the networking system, etc. We have to showcase the use of computers before we enter the adoptive stage in the villages,'' she says.

To facilitate the adoption of multimedia computers in school, Intel has been working with various hardware and software vendors to make available the latest computer technology to schools at special prices. Some of the hardware vendors who (under Project Vidya) have special prices for schools are HCL and Wipro. On the software front, Intel works with NIIT and other vendors to make software affordable to schools. ``We also plan to publish material on how schools can adopt computers. This will explain in detail about the financing methods, etc,'' says Ghosh.

Intel is coordinating with the state education departments on the various computer awareness programmes. ``In Delhi we tried out a unique exercise of getting students to train their teachers oncomputers. It was done in an informal manner and the results were truly encouraging,'' she says.Intel has discussed with the NCERT the adoption of computers as tools for learning at schools. ``We are really encouraged by the response from the state governments regarding the adoption of computers in the education system,'' she says.

Amongst its other initiatives, Intel also organises `Digital Days' in schools to educate teachers and children about computers in an interactive and entertaining manner. The Digital Day comprises an educational film titled Journey Inside the Computers which takes the kids on an exciting voyage inside the computer to understand how it works, how it benefits them and what are the emerging possibilities. The company also sends a quarterly technology mailer to schools informing them about new technologies, products available and relevant education trends from across the world. The IT major is working with Western Outdoors, Intellec Vision, NIIT, Kirloskar Multimedia and others tocatalyse the development of indigenous software. As part of the initiative, Intel is working with key international publishers like Discovery Multimedia Dorling Kindersley and Disney to increase the availability of good software at affordable prices.

Worldwide, Intel spends $100 million per annum on the various education initiatives in different countries. But the company has not earmarked any particular budget for its education programmes in India. ``Mere mention of our initiatives in dollar terms will not explain anything. It is the quantum of work that we do in this field that needs to be assessed,'' says Vijaykar.