The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : NASSCOM to train teachers in soft skills and business process outsourcing

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Friday, Aug 01, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

NASSCOM to train teachers in soft skills and business process outsourcing

Priscilla Jebaraj

Government college faculty will pass on the knowledge acquired to students

The objective is to impart skill sets needed to become IT and ITES professionals
Once students are trained, NASSCOM to hold NAC test for BPO industry in State

CHENNAI: When the first standardised test for BPO recruitment is held in Tamil Nadu at the end of this year, government college students should be well prepared.

Industry body NASSCOM has tied up with State government to offer training in soft skills and business process outsourcing (BPO) to more than 200 government college teachers, starting Monday. They will pass on the training to their students.

“The objective is to impart the skill sets needed to become IT and ITES professionals,” said K. Purushothaman, regional director of NASSCOM. The four day-workshops would cover topics such as language and communication skills, industry knowledge including issues such as the impact of dollar fluctuation and basic IT business management training.

The syllabus includes classes on effective speaking, listening and conversation skills, written and spoken English, verbal and non-verbal communication, e-mail etiquette, business conversations and telephone discussions, appropriate business attire, interviews and group discussions and teamwork.

Cognizant is preparing the training curriculum and manual for teachers and will be involved in conducting the faculty development program. “Cognizant will adopt multi-modal learning methodologies, including in-classroom lectures, workshops, and mock interviews,” said a spokesman.

The workshop schedule will begin on Monday for teachers from Chennai and Vellore regions at the Cognizant Academy in Siruseri. Future programmes will be held at the Cognizant centre in Coimbatore from August 18, the Thiagaraja College of Engineering in Madurai from September 8 and the Bharathidasan Technical Institute of Technology in Tiruchi from September 15.

The programme is open to teachers with at least 10 years service left. A minimum of 50 teachers are expected at each centre, and the application process is under way.

“The teachers will, in turn, transmit and propagate to students. The aim is to improve the employment prospects of students,” says A. Ifthikarudeen, Joint Director (finance) at the Directorate of Collegiate Education. The teachers will hold special classes for this purpose over two or three months and incentives are expected to be granted for these sessions, says Mr. Purushothaman.

Once the students have been trained, NASSCOM will hold its first Assessment of Competence (NAC) test for the BPO industry in Tamil Nadu through the government university system in November or December. This will provide a standardised score which can be used for recruitment into any BPO company.

The first NAC test for the Information Technology sector in the State was held at Tirunelveli last week. The standardised test will improve employability in Tier II and III cities, according to NASSCOM.

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