Microsoft Corporation India on Thursday announced the launch of its third IT Academy in the state of Karnataka.
The new IT Academy located in Bangalore was inaugurated by R. Ramalinga Reddy, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, Government of Karnataka.
The academy is a key part of the MoU signed in November 2004 between Microsoft and the state government for the implementation of the Microsoft Partners-in-Learning program, which is aimed at accelerating IT literacy amongst government school teachers and students in the state.
The MoU entailed setting-up of three IT academy centres in the state. Apart from the Bangalore academy, the other two are located in Gulbarga and Dharwad. Under the MoU, Microsoft has committed to train over 20,000 teachers and 400,000 students (from class III to class XII) across the state of Karnataka over a period of five years. Till date, more than 2500 teachers have been trained at the two academies.
Elaborating on the government's focus on application of IT in the education process, Reddy said, "Computer training is presently being imparted to 1238 high school teachers and 765 primary school teachers. The central government has approved imparting computer training to 480 more high schools and funds have been released for this purpose. In order to improve the quality of computer training, Government of Karnataka has signed a MoU with Microsoft India to impart computer training to high school teachers.
The three Microsoft IT academy centres are estimated to train 3000 high school teachers each year. After five years these academies will be handed over to the state government
Speaking on the occasion, Rohit Kumar, country manager, (public sector), Microsoft India said, "Microsoft believes in technology as a great enabler for education and we are associating with the education community around the country to create a learning environment whereby technology enables students to learn in a more collaborative and dynamic manner.
"The MoU with the Government of Karnataka is a testimony to this commitment. With the inauguration of the third IT Academy in the state we seek to accelerate the training process and reach out to more teachers and students to further enhance the learning process in schools across the country."
The Microsoft IT academy is a world-class facility equipped with a state-of-the-art IT lab complete with latest hardware and software, a comprehensive IT curriculum and well-trained staff for effective delivery of IT training for school teachers. Twenty desktop PCs are used for the routine training process. The overall infrastructure includes twp classrooms, a meeting room, library, cafeteria and DG power backup supply.
Additionally the IT training courseware has been translated in Kannada for ensuring improved understanding of content by teachers. Microsoft will also run a 12-day training program free of cost for participating teachers to equip them to use technology in teaching students in a classroom environment.
About Microsoft's partners-in-learning program
The Microsoft Partners in Learning initiative is about ensuring technology access and affordability; ushering in economic development and new education models. It is also about public/private partnerships that bridge the digital divide in a local and meaningful way. This initiative reiterates the long-term commitment from Microsoft to partner with local schools, teachers and partners, establishing a foundation for continued advances in education and learning. The key components of the program include:
Fresh start for donated PCs - Provides primary and secondary schools with a licensed copy of Windows 98 and/or Windows 2000 for donated machines (Pentium II or older) when original documentation is not available.
School agreement - An annual, subscription licensing program specifically created to reduce the cost of Microsoft desktop offerings for primary and secondary schools.
Project Shiksha: Empowering the future - A key program in India under the PIL Grants umbrella, entailing an investment of $20 million
Project Shiksha
Microsoft's Project Shiksha: Empowering the future is a focused program designed to deliver affordable software solutions, comprehensive training and curriculum leadership for students and teachers in government schools. The key deliverables of the project are to: