Karnataka govt, NASSCOM sign MoU to offer skill courses to students

Bengaluru: To provide industry aligned skill development experiences to students of higher education, the Karnataka State Higher Education Council (KSHEC) on Tuesday entered into an MoU with the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM).

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in the presence of Minister for Higher Education and IT/BT, Dr C N Ashwatha Narayana, at Vidhana Soudha.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Ashwath Narayana said that the initiative will benefit more than five lakh students of (studying in government and private institutions) higher education every year. "Namma Karnataka is at the forefront of implementing the National Education Policy. As part of the implementation of NEP, curriculum design is done by subject expert committees and skill development courses are created in the UG curriculum," said the minister.

He said, skill development needs to focus on skills courses alignment with standards, faculty training and infrastructure resources. This initiative has taken into consideration all three aspects. "Skill development courses are available on NASSCOM's "Future Skills Prime" to all students and faculty members of higher education institutions in the State. This will be a rich knowledge repository that can be utilised effectively," Dr Ashwath Narayana said.

He added, India's demand for digital skills is eight times the supply and will rise 20 times by 2024. The MoU signed between KSHEC and NASSCOM for Skill Development Training in Emerging Technologies is much needed to bridge this gap. As per study reports, though the Indian IT services industry has the potential to touch $ 300-350 billion in revenues by 2025, the lack of digital talent would be a major challenge to be resolved in reaching this milestone.

National Education Policy 2020 emphasizes skill development. Undergraduate degree programs will focus on employability skills thereby preparing the State for digital transformation, Dr Ashwatha Narayana said.