Rural Students Present 64 Tech Projects at IIT-Madras Research Park

Rural school students from across Tamil Nadu showcased their technical skills and computer literacy projects at Raman Hall in the IIT-Madras Research Park. The competition, organised by the Chennai chapter of the voluntary organisation Asha for Education, brought together children trained at its Rural Training Centres (RTCs).

Students from 13 RTCs submitted 482 projects across areas including digital literacy, Scratch programming, web development, physical computing, robotics, media editing, JavaScript animations, and artificial intelligence. A total of 64 projects were shortlisted for final presentation before a panel of experts at the IIT-M facility.

The projects addressed practical applications as well as creative concepts. Scratch presentations included games, environmental themes, and science topics, such as a project on the universe presented by Iniyasri, a student from Uthukottai in Thiruvallur district. Other students created websites covering agriculture and food delivery management, while robotics teams developed ideas including cleaning robots, smart farming systems, and pollution detectors.

A panel of 18 judges evaluated the presentations. The panel comprised industry professionals from companies including Amazon, Ford, Accenture, Cisco, and Wipro, alongside startup founders and professors from Rajalakshmi Engineering College and BITS Pilani.

Jayavel, one of the judges, commended the students for their thorough understanding and ability to articulate their ideas clearly, noting the value of providing rural children with opportunities to build and experiment with technology independently.

Asha Chennai launched the RTC initiative in 2022 with two centres and has expanded the programme to 13 centres serving nearly 1,200 students. The centres offer free six-month courses for students from Classes 6 to 12, beginning with foundational digital literacy and progressing to advanced topics such as web development, robotics, and AI.

Rajaraman Krishnan, a volunteer with Asha Chennai for more than two decades, noted that student engagement has remained strong over the years, with several students continuing their training at the centres and one former student currently interning with the organisation.