I have tried to point out some of the positive aspects of village life here. We can learn from these people, but there is also much that we can teach. Yesterday I watch ten older ladies learning to write for the first time. Their faces were beaming with joy at the opportunity to learn something new at this stage of life.

Amrita educational outreach program is called AmritaRITE (Rural India Tablet Education). It begins with the well established Anganwadi (morning kinder-garden). We support the teachers with tablet based programs to improve reading, writing, math, and general knowledge. With the help of animated cartoons, and interactive games, value education, social awareness tips, and health/hygene lessons are related.

If the teacher is capable and willing, we will hire her for additional afternoon classes; basic literacy for adults between 3:00 and 4:00 and tuition for school age children whose families can not afford private tutors from 4:00 to 5:45. Five villages have already implemented this suite of programs with others eagerly awaiting the arrival of more tablets. In all, 38 villages will receive the AmritaRITE programs.

– Scotti