New Delhi, January 9, 2021: Tech giant Microsoft and NASSCOM Foundation have partnered with the Directorate General of Training (DGT), Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), to create learning pathways for students pursuing IT/ITeS trades at the Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) in India.
As part of the collaboration, Microsoft and NASSCOM Foundation will help DGT in developing a blended learning curriculum for students pursuing the ‘Computer Operating and Programming Assistant’ (COPA) trade. The curriculum will give students an insight into Microsoft technologies, starting at the primary level from Office Productivity Suite to introducing advanced concepts of programming, networking and cybersecurity.
1.2 lakh students to benefit
The blended curriculum is expected to enable 1.2 lakh COPA students across 3000 ITIs annually.
For this exercise, the resources from LinkedIn, GitHub and Microsoft Learn will be integrated with the BharatSkills platform of MSDE to provide access to personalized job-oriented learning paths for students. These learning paths will cover a broad range of technical and workplace skills, from entry-level digital literacy to training in critical technologies like AI and cloud computing.
The partnership with DGT is an extension of Microsoft’s global skilling initiative to help 25 million people worldwide acquire new digital skills needed for the COVID-19 economy.
Faculty Development Programme
DGT will also collaborate with Microsoft and NASSCOM Foundation to conduct faculty development programs. More than 250 members of the ITI COPA faculty are expected to be trained in the first phase.
Commenting on the initiative, Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, Union Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, said, "Through the DGT-Microsoft partnership, we are aiming to impact thousands of students by enabling digitization in education and hope it to reach more students and teachers soon. As the pandemic is a compelling fast-track digital transition, these new learning initiatives will empower young learners with technical and market-oriented skills."
Speaking on the occasion, Anant Maheshwari, President, Microsoft India, said, "Empowering the next generation of learners with industry relevant digital skills is critical as we move towards building economic resilience. The last few months have accelerated the need for upskilling and has shown clearly that the future of learning will be supported by technology. Our partnership with DGT and NASSCOM Foundation is built on this foundation of equipping the learners of today with the skills required to thrive in the jobs of tomorrow."
Pravin Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, shared his thoughts on elevating the skilling ecosystem in the country.
He said, "Skill development is constantly being upgraded and modernized in terms of infrastructure, pedagogy, curriculum and technological interventions. We are gradually working our way to upscale the skilling system as per industry expectations and demands. I feel extremely happy to acknowledge the DGT-Microsoft collaboration for the new interventions in facilitating online learning initiatives through digitization in support of students, trainers and self-learners."
Speaking on the initiative, Neelam Shami Rao, IAS, Director General (Training) & Additional Secretary, said, "The blended learning is a flexible and adaptable way of engaging the learners, while allowing the trainers to cater to the needs of the students, in a much better way. Hence, as a pilot, digitized content for six most popular trades in CTS is being developed, one being the COPA trade. DGT is absolutely thrilled to partner with Microsoft, the indisputable tech-giant, for its unconditional support in developing comprehensive skills and employability of our students as well as the future trainers through its learning modules on futuristic skills."
Ashok Pamidi, CEO, NASSCOM Foundation, said, "Blended learning has been a game-changer through all our skill-based programs. With this e-content, we hope to bring this model to the ITIs. We are extremely proud to collaborate with Directorate General of Training (DGT) to roll out the e-content in various NSTIs and ITIs across India."
The blended learning model would also enable teachers to accommodate double the number of batches with the same infrastructure.
