New Delhi: Leading talent development major NIIT Ltd. is partnering with global software firm Microsoft to train and certify girl students and women through skill enhancing courses for the Indian IT industry.
“As the learning partner of Microsoft India, we will offer eight new software courses to develop talent pool for the IT industry through scholarships for girls students and women till December,” NIIT chief executive Vijay Thadani said in a statement Wednesday here.
The courses will also enable women to find suitable careers in IT and accelerate their growth in the booming IT industry.
NIIT programme will be a part of Microsoft India’s “Women in Tech” initiative launched recently to train and mentor one million women students, women IT professionals and women entrepreneurs in the next 12 months.
The initiative will target girls and young women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) reading in schools, colleges, women IT professionals and women entrepreneurs.
“We will introduce girls of 13-16 years across 4,000 schools to IT careers and reach out to young women in about 1,000 colleges through a campus connect programme to participate in the government’s Digital India initiative,” Thadani noted.
Through the “Women in Tech” initiative, Microsoft aims to double the number of women in the IT industry over the next few years.
“The ‘Women in Tech’ initiative will impart technical skills, provide mentorship and encourage women to join, grow and succeed in the IT industry,” Microsoft India chairman Bhaskar Pramanik said in the statement.
According to a report by the industry’s representative body Nasscom, 20-25 percent of the literate women are science and engineering graduates and around 15 percent of women professionals are working in the IT and IT-enabled services sector.
“With an increased awareness towards the business challenges and employment opportunities, many women are changing their outlook, and therefore opportunities for women have increased in the IT industry,” the report pointed out.