A report on the RTC Impressions held at IITM Research Park in August ’25.

You may view the album here.

Asha Chennai, in collaboration with IITM Pravartak, operates 13 Rural Technology Centres (RTCs) across four districts in Tamilnadu providing free computer education—ranging from foundational to advanced courses—for students from underserved communities. We inaugurated four new RTCs in 2025 at Thirupatchur, Tiruttani and Uttukotai at Thiruvallur and Kottur, Thiruvarur.

The RTCs currently offer basic courses like Digital Literacy, Scratch Programming, and advanced courses like Web development, Animation, Physical Computing, and Media Editing. New courses like Web development 2, Introduction to Robotics and Artificial Intelligence are in the pipeline. Asha volunteers and teachers are working towards developing a curriculum for these at present.

Asha’s RTCs operate in two academic terms each year: February to July and August to January. Each course is designed to span six months, comprising approximately 3.5 months of instruction followed by 1.5 months dedicated to project work.

At the end of each term, students are required to submit projects as part of their coursework. These projects are carefully evaluated by RTC teachers, Leads, and Asha volunteers. From this pool, a select few are invited to present their work at RTC Impressions—a showcase event held twice annually in late July and late January. RTC Impressions celebrates the most outstanding student projects, offering them a platform to be judged by an external panel and recognized for their creativity, rigor, and impact.

Project Submission

Asha hosted its 7^th RTC Impression at IITM Research Park, Taramani on 18 August, 2025. We received an impressive submission of over 400 student projects from 12 RTCs this term, reflecting months of dedicated learning and hands-on experimentation.

Below table provides the details of projects submitted and selected by each RTC. Since Uttukotai, Thirupatchur and Thiruttani are new RTCs, only basic Digital Literacy course in being offered there. As terms proceed, we expect students from these RTCs to compete in other courses too. Our Thomur RTC has been functional since July 2023. Most of the students at this RTC already learn digital literacy at their schools from our tecahers. Hence, at the RTC, they enroll directly into Scratch Programming.

The Event

To prepare for the RTC Impressions event, Asha’s team coordinated with the IITM Pravartak team to reserve the necessary venues and arrange food services. The Leelavathy Hall (mini auditorium) and the exhibition hall located opposite the main auditorium were booked for the event. Arrangements for lunch and snacks were also made to ensure participants and judges were well taken care of throughout the day.

The students and teachers from Thiruvallur, Thoothukudi and Villupuram arrived in their vans by 9 am and were escorted to the dining area for breakfast. After breakfast everyone gathered at the Leelavathy Hall to start the event. It was decided to conduct the Presentation and Scratch programming competition here; the other competitions were organized in the hall opposite.

The judges had arrived by then, and Mr. Rajaraman, Volunteer and Project coordinator at Asha, welcomed them and briefed the judges on the grading parameters. Generally, the grading for projects is divided in 30-30-40 pattern, where 30% weightage is assigned to the Project and presentation of it, while 40% is allocated to the Q&A session. The judges were handed over the scorecards and assigned their respective spots to grade the competitions.

The Competition

The digital literacy and Scratch programming competitions were held in the Leelavathy Hall. The students in the Presentation competition were given the stage as they needed to present their projects on a large screen. Scratch programming was held in the backend of the same hall where students presented to the judges.

The remaining competitions were assigned to two panels of judges. We arranged for the students to present their entries in the room opposite. Two tables were placed at either end of the room, where RTC teachers guided the students according to their scheduled slots.

The competitions commenced at 10:30 AM and ran until 12:30 PM, with a tea break at 11:00 AM. Lunch was served in the adjacent hall, following which the events resumed.

The digital literacy competition is always a delightful experience, especially with students presenting their projects on stage. Each child brings their own spark—some arrive with colorful charts; others surprise the audience with interactive games or clever puzzles. A few even weave in a song or dance, turning the session into a lively celebration of ideas and imagination.

The Q&A rounds are a treat in themselves. Judges engage the students with thoughtful questions—probing into the content, the creative choices behind animations, and the techniques used to bring their visions to life. What’s truly heartening is how confidently and playfully the children respond, often with a touch of humor that lights up the room. The judges, too, lean into the moment, indulging the occasional cheeky remark with warm smiles and gentle banter. Students presented on topics such as Isaikaruvigal, Yadhumanaval, Neer Melanmai, Story and Photosynthesis, Tamil Eluthukal, Plastic Eating Bacteria, Continents etc.

The Scratch Programming competition that was going on at the back of the room was also interesting. Students had selected interesting topics like Gender inequality, Fruit ninja & Basket Ball, Chhota Bheem, Object Drawing Using Shapes, Photosynthesis etc.

Since Animation is being offered only in Kanakammachatiram and Kannigaiper this term, we received a total of 12 project submission in this category out of which 2 were finalized for the final competition. The students from Kanakaammachtiram RTC showcased a project named Catching Game and Kannigaiper RTC students presented project named CS Students. In Media Editing, students presented topics such as Namma Ooru Thiruvila, Social Media, Village Sports, Gender equality, Ostrich etc.

As there were fewer entries in the Media Editing and Animation categories, the judges were able to deliberate and finalize the winners by 3:00 PM. Unfortunately, Mr. Sridhar and Mr. Shankar could not stay for the prize distribution ceremony. As a gesture of appreciation, our students had prepared handmade gifts for the judges, which were presented to them before their departure.

The judges for the Web Development and Physical Computing competitions evaluated a total of 13 projects across both categories. Students showcased their ideas with enthusiasm and confidence, with some using props to enhance their presentations. To assess the depth of understanding, judges asked a few participants to make specific changes to their projects. The students responded effectively, implementing the changes and articulating their grasp of the concepts with clarity.

While other competitions got done early, digital literacy finished by 4 PM after which the judges took time to deliberate on the winners. The final list was handed over to Mr. Rajaraman after which we proceeded to the prize distribution ceremony.

Prize Distribution

Our chief guest for the evening was Mr. Shankar Raman, CEO IIT- Madras Pravartak Technologies Foundation. After welcoming everyone at the event, Mr. Rajaram proceeded to talk to the students about RTCs, the value of project work at RTCs and the improvements seen over the years. He also congratulated the students on picking topics related to climate change and sustainability as suggested by Mr. Kamakoti at the RTC Impressions held last term.

Mr. Shankar Raman also took the stage to address the students, congratulating them on their impressive projects and contributions to the event. He urged them to pursue careers aligned with their personal interests and passions, rather than simply following popular or trending paths. Highlighting the growing shortage of professionals such as historians, geologists, archaeologists, and linguists in the country, he emphasized the importance of choosing vocations that resonate with one’s curiosity and calling—rather than yielding to societal or peer pressure.

The judges were then invited to talk about their experiences and announce the winners. Mr. Shankar Raman gave away prizes to the winners.

Digital Literacy –

1st prize – RTC Kilpennathur for project Story and Photosynthesis

2nd and 3rd prize – RTC Periyapalayam – Place Value and Yadhumanaval

Another 3rd prize was awarded to RTC Kannigaiper – Junk Food

Scratch Programming –

1st Prize was awarded to RTC Kannigaipair- S Series

2nd Prize to RTC Nalatinputthur- 3 Games

3rd Prize to RTC Seethanjeri- Maths game

Web Development-

1st Prize to RTC Thomur-Good health and well being

2nd Prize to RTC Kanakamma Chathiram- Museum

Animation

1st Prize to Kanakamma Chathiram- Catching Game

Physical Computing

1st Prize to RTC Periyapalayam -Alexa, Is my plant sad?

2nd Prize to RTC Kanakamma Chathiram – Trucking app

Media Editing

1st Prize to RTC Nalatinputthur -Namma Ooru Thiruvizha

2nd Prize RTC Kanakamma Chathiram -Village Sports

Testimonials

Mr. Arjun Shankar, (Former) Chief Corporate Management Services Officer at NIIT Limited- “Asha for Education – is doing a phenomenal job in education, helping improving education quality and access to computers in a very thoughtful way for government school children. Teacher training and pedagogy has also played a big part in ensuring progress and excellence. The volunteers and Asha team are all truly committed. Glad Asha is scaling well with quality. Happy to support the efforts of my classmate Rajaraman Krishnan who is full-on on this for so many years.”

Mr. Austin Mathew Jacob, Cybersecurity Enthusiast at Crossbow Cybersecurity- “It was an honor to be part of this event as a judge. I was truly impressed by the caliber and potential of the students. My sincere thanks to Crossbow Cybersecurity for providing me with this opportunity and my appreciation to Asha Chennai for their commendable initiatives. The effort to extend computer education to children from villages in Tamil Nadu is both inspiring and impactful.”