Reliance, OLPC Foundation Team Up

Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group has joined hands with One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Foundation under which Reliance Communication (Rcom) would provide Internet connectivity, network and logistics to the OLPC's India initiative.

"Every child has the right to education. Reliance Communication is going to facilitate that right. This is not a laptop but an educational program which will promote e-learning in the country," RADAG Chairman Anil Ambani's wife Tina Ambani told reporters.

She invited state governments, NGOs, corporates and media to be a party to the program, a pilot of which has already been started in a school in the tribal-dominated Khairat village, near Karjat in Maharashtra.

Under the program, every student will be given a water-proof and almost unbreakable laptop, priced at USD 188 (landed price in India at USD 220) which would reduce the burden of the school bag and promote e-learning in the country reducing the digital divide in the society.

"India's economy is growing at a rapid pace. We need to to impart quality education to children. The education system has to be more student-friendly. It has to be fun-filled for them," Ambani said.

"OLPC program would be application-oriented and not syllabus-oriented, as is the current practice," Ambani added.