Lucknow, May 16 (IANS): IITians from across the country will be taking free online classes for students of government schools in rural India.

The initiative - Online Rural Education Initiative (OREI)- is taken by IIT Kanpur that has developed a platform through which all IITians will connect to teach rural India.

Chief secretary Durga Shankar Mishra launched the initiative at UP Sainik School in Lucknow.

Under this initiative, IITians will teach mathematics and science to students of 10 government secondary schools in the state.

"Students of class 9 to 12 in government schools will be benefited by OREI. Apart from school learning, they will get guidance from IITians, who are experts in science and maths. Also, since classes will be conducted by creamy layer of the country, it will motivate students to dream big and attain success like them," said an official from UP secondary education department.

He said OREI was started in 2018 by a group of B.Tech students in Shri Ram Janki Inter College, Bithoor (Kanpur) and was later extended to Bharatiya Gramin Vidyalaya, Mahona (Lucknow).

"The main objective is to provide world-class science and mathematics classes to the rural students. It will be an interactive class in which students' questions will be answered by experts," the official said.

The classes will also be available on the YouTube channel in Hindi.

A timetable is being prepared in the school incorporating these classes so that more students can be benefited.