BANGALORE: Minister for Primary and Secondary Education R. Ramalinga Reddy here on Thursday inaugurated the third Microsoft Corporation India Pvt., Ltd. Information Technology Academy, which will impart computer education to government schoolteachers.

The Minister, who was supposed to address trainee teachers, made a brief appearance only to inaugurate the new facility because of the political developments in the State. The academy is housed at the DIET, Bangalore urban campus in Rajarajeshwari Nagar.

The academy is a result of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Microsoft and the State Government in November 2004 for implementation of the Microsoft Partners-in-Learning programme. Already, two IT academies have been set up in the State — one in Gulbarga and the other in Dharwad — as part of the MoU. The corporation has committed to train 20,000 teachers and 40,000 students within five years.

Secretary to the Government, Primary Education, T.M. Vijaya Bhaskar, said Microsoft may establish more academies in select districts in the State. The Bangalore academy will train 10,000 teachers from Bangalore and Mysore regions, he added.

Microsoft Country Manager Rohit Kumar said the corporation may be involved in imparting information technology training to high school teachers. The Centre has approved extension of the scheme to 480 more high schools apart from the existing 1,238 high schools. The academies will be handed over to the Government after five years.

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