<p>The programme "mConnect" will offer low-income, rural or underserved students a education and assessment programmes through cell phones, laptops and other mobile devices, McGraw-Hill said in a statement here.<br /><br />Citing an example, it said that for students who want to establish their careers by learning english, mConnect would provide opportunities to hear conversations, review new vocabulary delivered via SMS.<br /><br />"Through advances in mobile learning, McGraw-Hill and Wipro...(would) deliver high-quality, low-cost education to students and workers in rural areas and cities with limited access to resources," said Harold McGraw III, chairman, president and CEO of The McGraw-Hill Companies, who made the announcement here.<br /><br />The McGraw-Hill Companies and Wipro would work together to develop a mobile learning platform to bridge the skills gap in emerging markets including in India, it said.<br />Initially in India, the focus would be on the needs of students and workers like in test preparation for entrance examinations into universities, it added.<br /><br />"In a country (India) with more than 700 million cell phones, mobile learning will help level the playing field for education in India," it said.<br /><br />Quoting Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), it said that in India, there are 706 million cell phone subscribers, equivalent to about 60 per cent of the population.<br />It said that India provides an important development ground for mConnect as the country is home to a growing, young workforce hungry for access to high-quality education to improve their career prospects.<br /><br />"According to mobileyouth.org, by 2012, one in five of all mobile phones in use worldwide will be owned by a young person in India," it said, adding currently, 100 million mobile phones are owned by youth in rural areas who use them an average of 5.5 hours per day.<br /><br />Even within the population of Indian students with access to university education, according to a recent WEF report on the global talent crisis, only 25 per cent of those graduates are considered employable by multinational companies today, it added.<br />"Given this staggering data, mobile learning is uniquely positioned to overcome historic boundaries of distance, infrastructure and economic status and harness the<br /><br />The intention is to extend this programme later to other countries in Asia and in Africa.</p>
<p>The programme "mConnect" will offer low-income, rural or underserved students a education and assessment programmes through cell phones, laptops and other mobile devices, McGraw-Hill said in a statement here.<br /><br />Citing an example, it said that for students who want to establish their careers by learning english, mConnect would provide opportunities to hear conversations, review new vocabulary delivered via SMS.<br /><br />"Through advances in mobile learning, McGraw-Hill and Wipro...(would) deliver high-quality, low-cost education to students and workers in rural areas and cities with limited access to resources," said Harold McGraw III, chairman, president and CEO of The McGraw-Hill Companies, who made the announcement here.<br /><br />The McGraw-Hill Companies and Wipro would work together to develop a mobile learning platform to bridge the skills gap in emerging markets including in India, it said.<br />Initially in India, the focus would be on the needs of students and workers like in test preparation for entrance examinations into universities, it added.<br /><br />"In a country (India) with more than 700 million cell phones, mobile learning will help level the playing field for education in India," it said.<br /><br />Quoting Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), it said that in India, there are 706 million cell phone subscribers, equivalent to about 60 per cent of the population.<br />It said that India provides an important development ground for mConnect as the country is home to a growing, young workforce hungry for access to high-quality education to improve their career prospects.<br /><br />"According to mobileyouth.org, by 2012, one in five of all mobile phones in use worldwide will be owned by a young person in India," it said, adding currently, 100 million mobile phones are owned by youth in rural areas who use them an average of 5.5 hours per day.<br /><br />Even within the population of Indian students with access to university education, according to a recent WEF report on the global talent crisis, only 25 per cent of those graduates are considered employable by multinational companies today, it added.<br />"Given this staggering data, mobile learning is uniquely positioned to overcome historic boundaries of distance, infrastructure and economic status and harness the<br /><br />The intention is to extend this programme later to other countries in Asia and in Africa.</p>