Kerala lines up SPEED-IT to tackle IT job losses

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, INDIA: Close on the heels of a national survey to study the impact of global recession on India and the lack of employment opportunities in the IT and ITes Sector, the Kerala IT department has proposed a new education scheme aimed at addressing a wide range of issues – loss of jobs in the IT and ITeS sector, lack of employment for graduating students, lack of opportunities for Gulf returnees in the IT and ITeS sector and the need for larger human resource with higher qualification in the IT and ITeS sector.

The main objective of SPEED-IT will be to expand the existing post graduate programme (Masters and PhD) in IT and IT-related disciplines.

A strategy, which would target expansion of the number of post graduates in IT and related sectors by providing for a scheme to attract good students into Masters and PhD programmes in IT and IT related disciplines is being charted out. This will be done by providing scholarships.

Simultaneously, encouraging the engineering institutions in the state to expand their capacity for intake of Masters and PhD students in IT and IT related disciplines would also be mooted.

The programme will include scholarship students and sponsored students and their selection under scholarship category will be primarily through merit, said an official.

Industry participation in sponsorships is also being mulled over. A scholarship of Rs 8000 a month per student will be provided to Masters students under the scholarship category. Similarly, a scholarship of Rs 14,000-18,000 will be provided to PhD students under the scholarship category.

In each course 20 per cent of the seats will be available as sponsored seats. The terms and conditions for the sponsored seats will be decided soon, he said.

The scholarship will be available only for students admitted under the SPEED-IT programme. The engineering colleges are expected to expand their existing intake for Masters and PhD to avail the benefit of the scheme. The scheme shall be available to both government and private engineering colleges.

The expansion of the M Tech and PhD programme will be on a self-financing basis and no separate financial assistance shall be provided by the government, it has been pointed out.

In order to meet the expenses of the expanded programme, the engineering colleges will be allowed to charge a reasonable fees which could enable them to run the expanded programme on a sustainable basis.

The general scheme will be on the pattern of MBA programme being run at the Trivandrum Engineering College, the department has stated. It has been indicated that around Rs 50,000 per M Tech student could be charged as fees.

Kerala produces over 20,000 to 25,000 engineers every year. In view of the loss of existing jobs, the opportunities for new graduates will be further diminished. The new move comes in this regard, it is believed. At present there are only 300-odd post graduate seats in Kerala universities as against over 20,000 bachelor level degrees.