The State government proposes to take up skilling of students on a massive scale with the help of Microsoft Corporation (India).
As many as 1,62,000 students and unemployed youth across more than 300 colleges and skill development centres will benefit from the programme proposed to be rolled out by the AP State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE) immediately after Dasara.
‘Free of cost’
“We are the first in the country to go for a certification programme on such a massive scale for students free of cost. Even if one lakh students complete the programme and secure the certificates from Microsoft, it will create a huge impact in terms of their employability prospects,” said K. Hemachandra Reddy, Chairman of the council, which is the implementing partner of the joint initiative of the Department of Higher Education and the AP State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC).
An amount of ₹30.79 crore has been earmarked for implementation of the project.
Monitoring panel
A Monitoring and Evaluation Committee has been constituted for the purpose with the Education Minister as its Chairman.
The Special Chief Secretary, Department of Higher Education, will be its Convener. Minister for Information and Skill Development Training; Principal Secretary, IT and Skill Development; APSCHE Chairman; Special Officer to Chief Minister Hari Krishna; and Coordinator, Overseas Education for Andhra Pradesh Kumar Annavarapu are its members.
The APSCHE will implement the project and will ensure that students enrolled for the course get Microsoft certification.
The project was initially meant to be implemented between December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2021. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the programme is being extended for a period of one year, up to December 31, 2022.
After undergoing training in certain skills, the students will write mock tests and then write the final exam to obtain the certificate.
Technical workforce
“The Microsoft’s ‘Future Ready Solutions’ industry certification will enable our students to acquire the technical skills to become eligible workforce in sectors such as IT infrastructure, data science and computer science,” said Mr. Kumar.
To elicit the views of the State universities on the project, the APSCHE had conducted a meeting attended by the Vice-Chancellors, who were in favour of the programme, but suggested that the courses should be offered to students free of cost.
After deliberating the issue, the government agreed to it and gave its nod.
