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NASSCOM-UGC tie-up for IT skill development

A.A. Michael Raj

The industry is likely to face a shortage of skilled hands There is a mismatch between the human resource produced by regular educational system and the needs of the IT-ITES industry

Coimbatore: The National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) has signed an agreement with the University Grants Commission (UGC) to train students to take up careers in the information technology industry.

In its July-September 2005 issue of the `IT Industry Communiqué for the Academic Fraternity' made available to colleges and universities, NASSCOM said that it would join hands with the UGC to improve professional education by developing curricula, faculty, methods of teaching, and infrastructure in colleges and universities.

The aim of the joint effort was to help India maintain its leadership in the services sector with regard to information technology in the global market.

Increasing needs

Already, the IT sector was beginning to be seriously concerned over the rapidly increasing requirement for IT and the Information Technology-Enabled Services (ITES) sectors.

According to NASSCOM, the total number of IT and ITES-Business Process Outsourcing (ITES-BPO) professionals employed in India had increased from 2.84 lakhs in 1999-2000 to over 10 lakhs in 2004-05, expanding by over 1.5 lakhs during the last year alone.

Around 2.5 lakh engineering degree and diploma holders got jobs every year, with the majority joining the IT industry.

However, there was likely to be a shortage of skilled hands during the coming years.

There was a mismatch between the human resource produced by regular educational system and the needs of the IT-ITES industry.

Faculty training

A. Shanmugam, principal, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, said that as part of the collaboration, NASSCOM and UGC would jointly undertake a faculty development programme for upgrading the knowledge and skills of teachers, especially in areas of emerging technology and project management.

R.S. Kumar, Head of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering of the college, said that the industry-academia link would involve the joint organisation of workshops, summits, projects, focussed research activities and mentorship programmes.

There could also be special links among corporate entities, academic associations and consultancy companies.

Case studies

Case studies of existing skill improvement programmes in certain IT companies could be studied and emulated by other organisations. Businesses could contribute to upgrading the curriculum and modifying or adding to the existing material to provide education that suited the current needs of industry.

According to the NASSCOM communiqué, the association and the UGC would establish `Techno-Business Skills Development (TSD) Centres' within the premises of academic institutions in order to encourage the development of technical and business skills and knowledge-based enterprises.

Live projects

These efforts would bring academic institutions, the IT industry and research facilities closer. Students would be able to work on live projects of IT companies and learn the processes, so that they could be considered for employment at a later stage.

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