The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Earn-while-you-learn scheme in IIIT-B

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 26, 2007
ePaper

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Earn-while-you-learn scheme in IIIT-B

Deepa Kurup

BANGALORE: Gone are the days when graduation was the end-all of higher education. With almost every field moving towards demanding specialisation, there is immense pressure on graduates to pursue postgraduate degrees. Institutes like the Indian Institute of Information Technology, in collaboration with various corporate companies, in a bid to make the task more affordable and practical for young graduates, is focussing on “earn while you learn” programmes.

Forty students will be chosen this year to participate in this programme, which was introduced last year with 25 students, in partnership with SAP Labs India. “The success of this programme has resulted in 10 companies coming forward to participate this year,” says S. Sadagopan, Director of IIIT-B.

The students work with the company for a stipend of Rs. 7,000 to Rs. 15,000, depending on the amount of time they invest in the projects. “The course at IIIT-B costs Rs. 2 lakh and the students earn a minimum of Rs 2.5 lakh in two years. This not only covers their fee but also their expenses,” says Prof. Sadagopan. Last year, SAP Labs India and IIIT-B visited the top four engineering colleges in Bangalore — M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology, RVCE, UVCE and PESIT. This year, however, IIIT-B plans to poach talent from more colleges by spreading awareness about this initiative.

“They are working on real-time projects and gaining expertise in diverse areas,” says Kush Desai, managing director of SAP Labs India. The Scholar@SAP programme is offered only at IIIT-B and Bits Pilani. This counts as work experience and at the end of the course they are not bound by any contract.

There has been an increase in the number of students opting to go into research.

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

Karnataka