Union Minister Shri Kamal Nath unveils the first-of-its-kind Model District Learning Center set up by NIIT Education Society at Chhindwara

Chhindwara, August 19, 2007: Hon’ble Union Minister for Commerce & Industry Shri Kamal Nath, today inaugurated the first-of-its-kind Model District Learning Center at Chhindwara, set up by not-for-profit organization- NIIT Education Society.  The District Learning Center (DLC) located in the heart of the district will endeavour to foster talent and skilled manpower resources for global readiness. The district of Chhindwara alone witnesses over 4,000 students graduating every year.

 

Model District Learning Center will  provide intensive professional training programmes include a English Preparatory school for the students have patrons who will provide scholarships to graduates from the district To be run by not-for-profit organization- The NIIT Education Society

To begin with, The DLC will provide intensive training programs to over 200 students a year and will work towards increasing the capacity by another 200 students in the next 2 years. Once the model is tested it will be rolled out in other districts in the country. These graduates will be equipped with IT skills, Communication skills (verbal and written), Professional Life skills and Business Etiquette skills that will enable them to accomplish gainful employment and secure future.

Elaborating on the scope of the project, Mr. Rajendra S Pawar, Chairman, NIIT Ltd. said, "Chhindwara sets the tone, for unleashing the hidden potential of semi urban towns, by bringing the energy of their youth into the mainstream.”

The DLC will ensure that students are taught the latest and most relevant content and curriculum to make them future ready. The selected students will undergo full-time training and will have access to resident faculty with expert guidance and mentoring through online faculty resources backed with regular visits from other faculty.

The center has been designed to create an ambience of an urban training facility and uses state-of-the-art technology—fully networked classrooms, machine rooms, labs, library, VSAT connectivity, high-bandwidth internet, amongst other learning resources.

DLC is a reflection of unique public-private-partnership. The project is expected to witness a strong industry support by way of corporate sponsored training to identified candidates from this region.

Besides setting up the first DLC, Hole-in-the-Wall Education Ltd (HiWEL), an NIIT venture will also setup several Minimally Invasive Education (MIE) Playground Learning Centers (PLCs) in different villages of Chhindwara to promote computer education among school kids in the district.

HiWEL PLCs provide free and unsupervised access to computers for children belonging to economically and socially marginalized populations, in remote rural locations and urban slums. HiWEL PLCs that come with the unique Minimally Invasive Education approach, encourage children to self-organize and take responsibility for their own learning.

According to Mr. Neeraj Agarwal, Senior Vice President, NIIT Ltd. “With experiments like these, HiWEL is trying to find innovative ways to touch millions of children, including those outside the school system and bring them into the mainstream.”

Hundreds of children from villages will have access to educational content and games, and learn in an environment that allows them to build and improve their understanding through observation, exploration, discovery, and collaboration, with minimal intervention from adults.