IIT-M Launches Electronic Kits In Collaboration With State Govt For 1 Lakh Rural Students

Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) on Wednesday launched a scheme that aims at developing electronic kits for one lakh government school students in Tamil Nadu The scheme was inaugurated by MK Stalin, CM of Tamil Nadu.

The vision behind this initiative is to teach students technological enthusiasm and kindle their passion for innovative thinking and electronic science. Named 'Thiranari Thervu Thittam,' the word loosely translates to 'scheme to identify and nurture talent. 'IIT-M has formulated this new initiative in collaboration with the Department of School Education.

Under this, every year, over 1000 government school students, which includes 500 female students and 500 male students, from the 10th standard will be chosen. They will be connected to prestigious institutes of higher learning, like IIT-M itself. Further, they will be motivated to pursue higher education in semiconductor technology. While promoting this inclusive approach to learning, a statement released by IIT-M said that it also aims at giving hands-on experience to 1 lakh students from classes 9, 10, 11, and 12 every year.

With this scheme, monthly stipend of Rs 1000 will be provided to students. They will also receive ₹ 12,000 annually while pursuing Under Graduation and Post Graduation.

While praising IIT-M for its endeavour to help rural students, CM said, "IIT Madras has the distinction of being recognised as the #1 Technical Institute in India. Lakhs of students dream of joining IIT Madras and hence, are studying toward it. Such a prestigious institute has come up to help students from government schools and encourage scientific thinking through their 'Anaivarukkum IITM' initiative, developed jointly with the help of the Department of School Education", reported Business Standard

Benefit For Students

MK Stalin himself distributed the kits to the students who were present at the event held on the IIT-M campus. Apart from CM Stalin, the inaugural ceremony was also attended by Thiru Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, Minister for School Education, Professor V. Kamakoti, Director of IIT-Madras, with other dignitaries.

The scheme is directed toward addressing the urgent scientific needs of the country. IIT-M said that semiconductor manufacturing could help solve problems in domains like clean energy, health care, environmental conservation, and others. It is part of a larger initiative by the premier institute called "Anaivarukkum IIT-M', (IIT-M for All).

Professor V. Kamakoti said, "Students can perform hundreds of experiments on the Electronic Kits we developed. We will also be giving tutorial videos prepared in Tamil and English…We assure everyone that we will always work towards making Tamil Nadu the no. 1 State in Science and Electronics."

The government has already identified 252 schools in several rural locations of Tamil Nadu. Two teachers from each of these schools have already been trained under respective domains.

IIT-M has garnered much attention lately with its "IIT-M for All" initiative. It has bolstered various plans to use science and technology for the upliftment of society. After Covid-19, in the year 2022, the institute unveiled courses on 'Out of the Box Thinking,' made available online for everyone across the globe. IIT-M also granted admission to 87 students from various government schools. In the wake of the fact that data scientist job roles are predicted to be one of the most wanted job roles by 2025, it opened BSc Data Science to students of classes 11 and 12. In 2017, it also launched a project with CAMS Group to train 300 micro and marginal women entrepreneurs in Tamil Nadu.

Also Read: Do These Viral Images Show An Iftar party In Presidency University? No, Images Are Viral With False Claims