Rajasthan Govt signs MoU with Tata Trusts, Khan Academy for e-learning

India CSR News Network

JAIPUR: Aimed at addressing the gaps in learning levels of students enrolled in government schools in the state, Rajasthan Council of Secondary Education (RCSE) have signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Khan Academy and Tata Trusts.

Facilitating this, is Tata Trusts, which is playing a catalytic role in enabling access to Khan Academy’s content in two languages – English and Hindi, to students enrolled in government schools; pilots for personalised learning, teacher competency training, remedial programs and offline usage of e-learning resources, amongst others.

RCSE is developing an online portal that will house e-Learning content for classes 1-12 based on the syllabus of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) / Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education. Under the proposed partnership, math content from Khan Academy will be made available on this portal for classes 5-10 in English and Hindi languages.

A Steering Committee will be set up to co-develop interventions in use of Khan Academy content in classrooms, as a pedagogical aid for teachers and for remedial education.

The Committee will be headed by the State Project Director of Education and will initially consist of one representative each from the RCSE, Directorate of School Education of Rajasthan, the State Institute of Educational Research & Training (SIERT), the Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education (RBSE), and partners from other civil society organisations.

With an emphasis on putting the technology in the hands of students for authentic and connected learning, Tata Trusts, through this partnership, looks at developing teachers’ capacity to integrate technology in teaching and learning.

On this occasion, Amrita Patwardhan, Head – Education, Tata Trusts, said, “Our initiatives reflect the contemporary global knowledge and views in the area of educational technology, while laying emphasis on the central role of students and teachers in using technology as a tool to augment teaching and learning experiences.”

“Through our work in school education, we aim to enhance grade specific learnings and 21st century skills among students, with special emphasis on quality and equity. Our partnership with Khan Academy will help promote personalised learning experience to wide range of users in India, helping us for move closer to our goal of ensuring access to quality education for all.” Amrita said.

“This is an interesting partnership model as we are catalysing support from a number of partners to improve learning outcomes in the state,”said Sandeep Bapna, Head of Khan Academy India.

“In the beginning phases, these include Central Square Foundation, which is working on translating Khan Academy content to Hindi; Motivation for Excellence, which has successfully implemented personalised learning environment in schools through its Nalanda project; and The Global Education & Leadership Foundation, which is working in the state to improve capacity of teachers and administrators.”, He said.

Khan Academy is a nonprofit with a mission to provide a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere. Khan Academy believes that learners of all ages should have unlimited access to free educational content they can master at their own pace. It uses intelligent software, deep data analytics and intuitive user interfaces to help students and teachers around the world. The resources on its platform cover preschool to early college education, including Math, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Economics, Finance, History, Grammar and more.

It also offers free personalised SAT test prep in partnership with the test developer, the College Board. Khan Academy has been translated into dozens of languages, and 100 million people use its platform worldwide every year.

Tata Trusts is amongst India’s oldest, non-sectarian philanthropic organisations, which has played a pioneering role in enhancing the quality of life of the people and communities it seeks to help. Guided by the principles of its Founder, Jamsetji Tata and through his vision of proactive philanthropy, Tata Trusts catalyse societal development. Transforming itself into a modern philanthropic organization, Tata Trusts has ensured its Initiatives and interventions have a contemporary relevance to the nation through its focus on the areas of education; healthcare and nutrition; rural livelihoods; technology, natural resources management; enhancing civil society and governance, media, arts, crafts and culture. Through collaborations with government bodies, international agencies and like-minded private sector organisations, Tata Trusts has strengthened its contribution to the developmental landscape of the country to nurture a self-sustaining eco-system that collectively works across all these areas.