SSI says new tie-ups to boost training biz

CHENNAI: Computer education and software services company SSI Ltd. said two

new alliances with a university and a bank for student loans will boost its

training business in the next quarter.

B.G. Menon, chief executive of SSI Education, told Reuters on Thursday he

expected an arrangement with state-owned Union Bank of India, to fund up to 75

per cent of the course fee, to boost student enrolments in the coming

January-March quarter. "We do not want to forecast specific numbers but

between the tie-up with the Madras University for course certification and the

student loans, we expect both top and bottomlines in education to grow

significantly next quarter," he said.

The two alliances were announced over the past two days. Enrolments across

the computer education business, including at SSI, have fallen sharply in recent

quarters in the wake of a slowdown in technology spending in the US market. In

October, SSI said education revenues in the July-September quarter fell six per

cent from the preceding quarter.

Company chief Kalpathi Suresh had said he did not expect revenue growth in

education for the year to next June as the market had shrunk by more than 20 per

cent.