A MILESTONE: D.H. Shankaramurthy (left), Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, at a function to sign MoU between Infosys BPO and Karnatak University in Bangalore on Tuesday. Srinivas K. Saidapur, Vice-Chancellor (second from right), and Sudha Murty, Chairperson of the Infosys Foundation, are seen. — PHOTO: G.R.N. SOMASHEKAR

BANGALORE: Karnatak University Dharwad is seeking the help of Infosys BPO to train degree students in the soft skills necessary for business process outsourcing companies. A memorandum of understanding was signed between the university and the BPO on Tuesday.

According to the Registrar of the university, Vinay Luthra, students who finish their sixth semester of their degree courses would have to write an entrance examination. The selected candidates would be brought for training initially to the Infosys premises in Bangalore before moving to Dharwad. At the completion of the training, the students will get "special" degree certificate.

Nandita Gurjar, Vice-President and Head (Human Resource), Infosys BPO, said the students would be given 360 hours of curriculum and would be trained in communication skills, personality development, domain skills, problem solving and creative solutions. Called "Affirmative action programme," the training would help students become employable in BPO companies. "This is the corporate responsibility," she said. According to a press note, the memorandum would be in force for three years.

Infosys BPO was doing the similar activity in Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. It will be extended to Orissa and Tamil Nadu, Ms. Gurjar said. Mohandas Pai, Chairman of Infosys BPO, said BPO companies were not finding the right people because of the lack of training and education. Mr. Pai lamented that the Government was not doing much in bridging the gap between the need of the companies and curriculum in which the students were trained. Mr. Pai said the curriculum prepared by the Infosys had been effective in training and recruiting talented students.

Minister for Higher Education S. Shankaramurthy said there was a need to reorient the curriculum to the needs of students. He said universities and teachers were not equipped for society's demands. There was a need to synchronise the two, he said.

Vice-Chancellor Srinivas K. Saidapur and Chairperson of Infosys Foundation Sudha Murthy spoke.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail