Chennai: Indian Institute of Technology Madras has developed a low-cost edtech initiative aimed at making digital education more accessible in schools with limited infrastructure, officials said.

The programme, developed by the Wadhwani School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (WSAI) at IIT Madras, offers modular and open-source learning tools that allow institutions to adopt only the components they require, reducing costs and enabling gradual digital transformation.

The initiative, named EduReach, will be expanded under the Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence for Education, called Bodhan AI, recently awarded by the Ministry of Education.

A customised version of the solution was developed for the Tamil Nadu School Education Department and was used during the previous academic year for weekly evaluations in smart classrooms across 3,860 schools, benefiting over 19 lakh students, officials said.

According to IIT Madras, the platform includes tools such as course content management systems, analytics dashboards, automated assessment features and instant quiz evaluation to support teachers and administrators in monitoring student performance.

The initiative has also partnered with the IIT Madras CSR programme Vidya Shakti, which has deployed the solution in 250 schools across two states and plans to expand it to 11,000 schools, potentially impacting about 11 lakh students by the end of the current financial year.

Officials said a workshop will be organised to familiarise educators and administrators with the platform's features.