Verizon India, IIT-Madras to train rural students

Chennai, Feb 21(): IT major Verizon India has inked apact with Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, toprovide opportunities in the field of engineering to studentsliving in rural areas. According to the programme '1Lab-1School', IIT-Madras isconnecting top graduate laboratories to high schools of ruralTamil Nadu, a press release said. The initiative is fully funded by Verizon India as part ofits commitment to empower rural communities. The '1Lab-1School', in its second year, has covered over800 students of 20 schools from Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram andVellore districts. "1Lab-1School programme stands apart for its potential totransform science education in India in the long run," VerizonIndia MD Kalyani Sekar said. "We are confident that the progamme makes quality scienceand technology education accessible for hundreds ofchildren," she said. Under the initiative, mentor groups from IIT-MadrasResearch Labs comprising students of MS, MTech and Ph.D andfaculty from science and engineering department would adoptrural government higher secondary schools. "A total of 20 research lab of IIT Madras has beenconnected to 20 rural schools since June 2018 with over 150graduate students from the institute having trained over 800students in the ninth grade," IIT Madras project lead andassociate professor, department of applied mechanics, PijushGhosh said. "We would like the higher education community to take upsuch models and implement them in schools in their regions sothat together we can contribute towards the betterment andfuture of children in rural India," he said. VIJVIJNVG NVG