Prime Minister of Ireland Bertie Ahern has launched the operations in India of the Global e-School and Communities Initiative (GeSCI), a multilaterally funded organisation that supports enhancing the reach and quality of education through deployment of ICTs.
The Dublin-headquartered GeSCI, founded by the UN ICT Task Force, aims at facilitating attainment of the Millennium Development Goals, and would work in India at the national and state levels, assisting the government and other partners for implementing ICT in education strategies and programmes. It was an important UN initiative, of which Ireland was a founding member along with Sweden, Switzerland and Canada, and would add value to the initiatives in India. GeSCI will partner with Rajasthan government for implementing Rajasthan Education Initiative and was also in talks with other states, including Karnataka, for assisting in e-Schools programmes. Its plans include setting up of a Global Innovation Centre in India.
