IT majors like Intel, AMD and Microsoft have maintained a steady focus on the education sector. Taking the fruits of technology to the wider population is regarded by these companies as a vital outcome of the educational initiative.

Microsoft India’s recent launch of ‘Unlimited Potential’, a programme that aims to steer their existing school and technology programmes to newer heights, is much in line with that objective. Mr Ram Narayanan, Director, Emerging segment market development, Microsoft India, calls ‘Unlimited Potential’ an “upgraded version” of the company’s programmes in India.

He reveals that the company has imparted training in innovative use of ICT to around 1,50,000 teachers (in India) and (through them) has reached around 7 million students under its Project Shiksha (the global partners in learning programme). This apart, Microsoft also works with around 1000 institutions for their technology programme.

“Of course, the most important goal of this initiative is to touch the five billion people who have hitherto not enjoyed the benefits of technology,” Mr Ram Narayanan says. “In short, through ‘Unlimited Potential’, we would like to achieve transformation in education, foster local innovation and enable job and opportunities to sustain social and economic growth.”

PC adoption
“In order for technology to be a truly transforming force in education, we need to create contents for students that help them see the PC as a tool that assists them in their learning process,” Mr Ram Narayanan says.
Microsoft does this by establishing an ‘eco-system’ or a group of partners. One of them, Brilliant Tutorials, has been in the business of preparing students for competitive exams for more than three decades. Others like ‘Karadi Tales’ are well-known for providing quality (multimedia) learning content for children. Joining this heady mix is ‘Tutorvista’, who so far have been providing online tutoring service for students in k-12 category abroad and have recently turned their attention homeward. Mr Ram Narayanan makes it clear that Microsoft isn’t using this as a way of promoting its own software applications.

“Our researches revealed that each household spends large sums of money for their children’s education,” he points out. “And in that at least 14 per cent of it goes for private tuition. So, despite looking at helping schools, we would also like to see how far we can help children individually in their private study.”