Two new Rural Technology Centres were inaugurated at Nallatinputhur and Kilpennathur in June and July.
New RTCs at Nallatinputhur and Kilpennathur
Asha Chennai in partnership with IITM Pravartak is currently running 7 RTCs. These are,
Thiruvallur District: Kanakamma Chathram, Seethanjeri, Kannigaiper, Thomur and Periyapalayam.
Thoothukudi District: Kayathar and Kalugumalai.
We added two more RTCs in June and July of 2024. These two new RTCs are being open one in Thoothukudi District and one in Thiruvannamalai District. Click here to learn more about our RTC.
Rural Technology Centre Nallatinputhur, Thoothukudi
Asha’s 8th RTC Centre and the third in Thoothukudi District, Tamil Nadu was inaugurated on 14 June, 2024, Friday at Nallatinpudhur near Kovilpatti. This RTC is paired with GHS Nallatinpudhur and RTC is located in the building right opposite to the entrace gate of this school. While we are new to this GHS, we have been supporting the nearby primary school PUPS Nallatinpudhur for a few years. We have always received very good support for all our programs at PUPS Nallatinpudhur and the high school has also welcomed our support.
The inauguration function on 14th June was attended by Asha Volunteers, Mr. Rajaraman and Mr. Bhaskar. The head mistress of PUPS Nalllatinpudhur and the assistant HM from the GHS Nallatinpudhur were also there to light the lamp. Rajaram and Bhaskar visited GHS Nallatinpudhur school along with Asha Coordinator, Mr. Murugan and Asha teachers to talk about Asha’s work and RTC courses on offer. The RTC is run by our teachers Ms. S. Malarmathi and Ms. K.Rathidevi.
The RTC started with an enrollment of 80 students with Digital Literacy and Basic Programming on offer. Note that we could directly get students started with the Basic Programming course because the main feeder school for the school is PUPS Nallatinpudhur where all the children have been learning OpenOffice and are comfortable in using a computer, the things we teach in our Digital Literacy course.
This RTC is being supported through funding from Analog Devices.
Rural Technology Center Kilpennathur, Thiruvanmalai
Asha has had a long presence in the Kilpennathur area. We have been supporting several primary schools in the area including our oldest one in Thiruvannamalai at Kanniyampoondi. We have been supporting a library belonging to the Consumer Protection forum and which supports the PUPS Kilpennathur next door. Therefore this was a natural choice for opening our first RTC in this district. Even before the RTC was started, we received support for it from Crossbow Laboratories. The founder/CEO of Crossbow, Mr. Deepak, has been a regular judge at our RTC Impressions the last couple of times! He immediately offered to support this RTC.
Our ninth Rural Technology Centre (RTC) in Kilpennatur, Thiruvannamalai was inaugurated on July 6, 2024, by Crossbow founder Mr. Deepak, his team, Mr. Sriramalu, the Block Education Officer of Kilpennatur, and Asha coordinator, Mr. Rajaraman. The event was graced by the presence of the headmaster from GGHSS Kilpennathur, Headmistresses of nearby primary schools which have been supported by Asha, computer and regular teachers from Asha, members of the Consumer Protection Federation, police officials, and other guests.
Crossbow generously donated nine computers to the RTC, including five laptops and four desktops. The inauguration began with a welcome speech by Mr. Dhinakaran, the Thulasi Project Coordinator for Asha, and concluded with a vote of thanks delivered by Mrs. Paripooranam, the Project Steward for Thulasi.
RTC Kilpennatur is paired with Girls Government Higher Secondary School, Kilpennatur. Students receive basic instruction in school and come to the RTCs to learn advanced courses. The week following the inauguration, we had enrolled 125 students to our RTC. At the Kilpennathur RTC, we are currently offering Basic Digital Literacy, and Basic Programming. We will be introducing courses like Web Development, Animation, Physical Computing, and Media Editing soon.