University of Mysore may get coding academy modelled on Paris’s Ecole 42

An incubation centre focusing on start-ups in agriculture is also in the works

The two projects will come up in the Manasagangotri campus of the University of Mysore.

A coding academy on the lines of France’s Ecole 42 and an incubation centre with focus on start-ups in agriculture may come up in the Manasagangotri campus of the century-old University of Mysore (UoM), which has offered to provide necessary infrastructure and academic support for the projects.

Vice-chancellor G. Hemantha Kumar told The Hindu , “The university gave its nod when Mysuru MP Pratap Simha sought to know whether we are interested in establishing the facilities. We hope that the projects may take off by the the end of this year. The second wave of COVID-19 delayed the paperwork.”

The university has identified 10,000 square feet of space on the first floor of Senate Bhavan in the campus for establishing the coding academy as well as the incubation centre.

“The university will be starting the correspondence with France for the coding academy project and the incubation centre, which is a project of the Department of Science and Technology,” the VC said.

Prof. Kumar said the coding academy will benefit the 4,000 students on the campus. “The skills and training that the academy imparts will make students employable,” he said.

In February this year, the Mysuru MP had sought a new-age coding academy on the lines of Ecole 42, a coding school, in Paris.

In a memorandum to the Deputy CM and IT&BT Minister Ashwath Narayan, Mr. Simha expressed interest in setting up a coding academy and incubation centre in Mysuru in partnership with Ecole 42. The proposed project has immense value in skilling, upskilling, reskilling and empowering the youth, he told the Deputy CM.

The MP had claimed that this will be the first of its kind coding academy in India and the first incubation centre in Karnataka with special emphasis on agri start-ups. The coding academy will have internship and corporate engagement. The admission process is rigid and will be system driven to select students based on their aptitude.

The earlier plan was to set up the academy in the campus of Karnataka State Open University (KSOU) in Mysuru. The MP had urged the Deputy CM to direct the KSOU to allocate space for the project. Later, UoM came into the picture after the MP reportedly suggested pursuing the project with the competent authorities.