The Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MEITy) and IBM India announced a collaboration to create a robust education and skilling ecosystem that creates critical thinkers, problem-solvers, and next generation innovators through the Common Services Centre Academy.
CSC Academy – part of Common Services Centre (CSC) scheme of the Government of India’s flagship Digital India program and IBM, along with their implementation partners CSR Box, Uva Jagriti Sansthan and Jeevitam will foster the capability and development of learners with diverse backgrounds and educational needs. They will extensively use technology, teaching & delivering of specialized courses/ training programmes in areas including Cloud and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to train learners such as village level entrepreneurs, functionaries and stakeholders of the CSC program.
As a part of the collaboration, IBM will curate and provide content from its key skilling programs – SkillsBuild and STEM for Girls – to be used for the training services and in community development programmes that is currently being conducted across the 6000 CSC Academies. The IBM programs offers courses and project-based learning in various technologies including Cloud & AI.
The CSC Academy supports more than 3.7 lakh common service centres including 60,000 Women only centres and is planning to set up 6,000 CSC Academy centres (one in every block) out of which 5000 are already set up across the country. With a view to make the learning experiential, IBM will also focus on getting the learners involved in trainings, workshops, train-the-trainer programs and co-create training materials and conduct orientation camps. This program will also provide access to employment to 4000 village level youth in the identified rural areas.
Dr Dinesh Tyagi, Managing Director, CSC e-Governance Services India Limited said, “The National Education Policy’s focus on experiential learning and skills like critical thinking, problem solving etc are aimed at bridging the skills gap of India’s workforce. This will in turn play a pivotal role in building a skilled workforce for local industries thereby powering the success of GoI’s flagship programs like Make in India, Skill India, Digital India, Startup India etc. This collaboration with IBM aligns with the National Education Policy’s emphasis on learning 21st century skills to ensure the future-readiness of India’s youth and realizing the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.”
As India moves into post-Covid industry transformation, there is a huge requirement of skilled manpower in futuristic technologies like computer-aided design, 3D printing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, image processing, IoT, data science, cloud computing, blockchain, etc.
Sandip Patel, Managing Director, IBM India/South Asia said, “Exponential technologies like AI and Hybrid Cloud can drive path-breaking innovations and fuel the nation’s digital India vision. To make this a reality there is a need to create the right avenues and platforms for learners to be equipped with industry-ready skills. Our collaboration with MeitY and CSC Academy will open up access to deep technological resources and expertise to learners with diverse backgrounds and educational needs and focus on skill upgradation through experiential learning – initiatives aimed at enhancing employability.
CSC e- Governance Service India Limited is a Special Purpose Vehicle (CSC SPV) of MeitY to monitor the implementation of CSC Scheme and provide a centralized collaborative framework for delivery to services to citizens through CSCs, besides ensuring systematic viability and sustainability of system.
SkillsBuild itself has covered 40,000 learners with 110,000 learning hours and 80,000 course completion since its launch in November 2019 in India. The IBM STEM for Girls is a three-year program that initially reached 600+ secondary schools and 78,000 girls and 45000 boys in Year 1. Its goal is to advance the STEM skills and career prospects of 200,000 girls and 100,000 boys by promoting digital literacy, coding/tech skills, career development, and girls’ empowerment by 2022.
