Microsoft offers tech courses to Indian academia

World's largest software major, Microsoft Corporation is offering its new education programme to the Indian academia for capacity building through faculty and making students more employable.

"Our new education programme will help academic institutions across the country with relevant topics, partner with us for technology innovation and capacity building in terms of faculty and students," Microsoft India Ltd. managing director Sanket Akerkar said in a statement here Sunday.

The "Microsoft Ed-vantage" initiative will enable about 10,000 universities and colleges across India to adopt its student solutions to individual needs, providing them an opportunity to compete on the global employment state on an equal footing.

"The programme will benefit faculty and students who are leveraging our tech courses such as Campus Agreements, IT Academy, DreamSpark, Imagine Cup and Student2Business with the right software tools as they are designed to help them connect with the industry for internship and employment opportunities," Akerkar said.

Noting that providing real-world tools to students at an affordable cost was a challenge to information systems (IS) educators, the Indian subsidiary's top executive said the programme was in response to the need with genuine software and certifications that make them (students) more employable in times of shrinking academic budgets and increasing education costs.

"The Ed-vantage programme represents a new way institutions can work with us to leverage our technology, build the right skills to become more employable while getting innovative," Akerkar observed.

Offered at four levels spanning basic to silver, gold and platinum, the programme is based on the core principles of genuine software, campus agreements, sound content and platform for IT certifications.

"The courses are intended to benefit technical and non-technical colleges and institutes in the country having our own software," Akerkar added.