Fourth R to take PC power to underprivileged kids

Our eFE Bureau in Chennai

The Fourth R India, country master licence partners (franchisee) of the The Fourth R Inc — a US-based computer education programme for children, is talking to Azim Premji Foundation to provide computer education to the students of poor schools in Karnataka on a no-profit basis.

Speaking with The Financial Express, Dr CT Chari, chief executive officer of Innovestment Cyberkids Ltd, said if the Azim Premji Foundation agreed to provide the hardware for the project, The Fourth R would provide the courseware/software for it free of charge. Cyberkids is a division of the SPBP - Innovestment Group, which is now the holding company of The Fourth R India.

Mumbai-based SPBP - Innovestment Group has recently acquired 100 per cent equity holding in The Fourth Estate India after investing Rs 1.5 crore in it and it will now be headed by Mr Mayank Kumar. The Fourth R, a US-based brand was first brought to India in 1998 by the Chennai-based Interactive learning solutions, promoted by Mr Krishna Sai and Mr K Karunakaran.

The new management has identified four areas of expansion - franchise operations, school business, curriculum development and testing, training and certification programmes. The company plans to reach out to schools in a big way and expects to have around 50 schools across the country as its licensees from the current 20 and reach atleast 50,000 students by the beginning of the next academic year, said Mr Chari. It also aims to increase it learning center franchisee network by another 30 from the current 45, especially in the Western and eastern region, he said. The company is custom designing its offerings to the schools based on their economic capability, he added.

Meanwhile, The Fourth R Inc is looking at its Indian partner for courseware development for its learning centres worldwide, according to Mr Rob McCauley, president of Fourth R Inc.

It is also considering having India as a base for expansion into neighbouuring countries, he said. The Fourth R is already present in Bangladesh and Pakistan and is likely to enter Sri Lanka shortly.