News

Kiosks open up world of Web for Indian children

December 28, 2003

CALCUTTA, India -- Children in rural Bengal will get to experiment with computers through global IT provider NIIT's "hole-in-the-wall" project. The project will provide computer kiosks to children ages 6 to 13.

The project aims to discover the extent to which children in slums and rural areas can learn from a Web-based curriculum through a purpose-built Internet kiosk. It strives to improve education with a minimal level of intervention, according to an article in The Telegraph.

The first kiosk containing three computers has been set up near Amtala. The second will come up at Pathor Protima in the Sunderbans. Another kiosk may be set up in the slums of Entally. The project is funded by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a World Bank affiliate.

"We have received funding from IFC to be used within a period of three years," said Sugata Mitra, chief scientist at NIIT's Center for Research in Cognitive Systems. "Each kiosk will be funded for one year from the date of inauguration. The cost of maintaining the kiosk will then have to be taken over by a government or private body."