NIIT sets aside Rs 2 crore for NIIT Swift Jyoti

We have all heard about Children's Day and the rest, but NIIT - a frontrunner in computer education in the country - has come up with a global idea of World Computer Literacy Day launched last year on December 2. "This year, the aim is to double our numbers and make 2 lakh people literate from across 2,500 locations," says L Balasubramanian, senior vice-president, NIIT.

Considering that for most learners it would be their first brush with a computer, a programme has been evolved to make people comfortable while approaching their machines. "This is a model where we encourage existing students to take on the task of teaching two students on their own. The students are then encouraged to ‘experiment' and perform simple functions like opening a file, creating an e-mail account, and so on," says Sanjiv Kataria, senior vice-president, NIIT. The idea is to rope in people from all strata of society and across all age groups.

Under the Swift Jyoti module, spread over two weeks and 12 hours, the company has sought to introduce some degree of localisation by making it available in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Gujarati, apart from English. And to reach its message to a wider mass of people, the company has earmarked an investment of nearly Rs. 2.5 crore across various media campaigns (to be conceived and executed by Contract Advertising). The company has also tied up with cellular service provider Airtel for an SMS campaign. It has also roped in Dataquest magazine and Webduniya.com as its media partners. It would also reach out NRIs who want to gift this module to their parents and relatives through www.rediff.com and www.indiatimes.com.

Meanwhile, at a different level, the company has restructured its LEDA programme for kids as K-12. This is an attempt to consolidate its position in the kids' education segment, where its services, launched way back in the late nineties, had started languishing. "LEDA was based on the franchisee model and sought to be a mid-point - between home and school. However, it did not get the desired response. Hence, we devised K-12 in October 2000 and put it to work last year. We have been very quiet on this as it requires a lot of below-the-line efforts to gain momentum," says Kataria.

The K-12 programme looks exclusively at schools (government and private). It has tied up with 663 schools in Andhra Pradesh, 700 in Karnataka, and 371 in Tamil Nadu. And together with its presence in private institutions, it reaches 2,500 schools and 8 lakh students. The company plans to launch a publicity blitz for its K-12 venture as well, but at a later stage. For now, Swift Jyoti will hog all the media limelight. © 2002 agencyfaqs!