Why in news? The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur has launched an initiative named ‘Online Rural Education Initiative (OREI)’ to impart online education to children belonging to rural areas of Uttar Pradesh.

Highlights:

• The initiative aims to provide quality education to village school children through its Ranjit Singh Rozi Shiksha Kendra (RSK). 
• The initiative, launched by the prestigious institution is integrated with Unnat Bharat Abhiyan of the Government of India.
• Its pilot programme was launched in two schools –  Ram Janki Inter College, Bithoor, Kanpur and Bhartiya Gramin Vidyalaya –  in the state capital Lucknow.
• The mission of Ranjit Singh Rozi Shiksha Kendra is to ensure the right of every child to best quality education irrespective of their location.
• The project has been adopted by the UP Department of Education to be run in government secondary schools.
• The number of rural schools to be covered under the programme will soon be expanded to 100 and later it would be implemented in all schools across the state.

How is the education imparted?

• In OREI, teaching is done from a smart classroom at IIT Kanpur where technology enables two-way communication between children in school classrooms and teachers at IIT Kanpur.
• With the help of advanced technology, both parties can talk to each other in real-time and teachers can ensure that the classes are interactive in nature.
• At present, OREI provides education to class IX and X students by conducting two classes daily. The plan is to add students of classes XI and XII to the project in the coming year.
• OREI is aimed at ensuring quality education to the rural children with the help of innovation and technology

About  Ranjit Singh Rozi Shiksha Kendra

• It is an in-house project set up by IIT-Kanpur to reach out to the nearby villages and contribute to the employability of rural youth.
• The project is run on a voluntary basis by a large number of PhD scholars engaged in teaching under expert guidance.