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Microsoft sets up IT Academy in M'rashtra

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CIOL Bureau
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NEW DELHI: Microsoft Corporation India Pvt Ltd has announced the formal launch of its first IT Academy in the state of Maharashtra. The IT Academy, which will serve to be a pivotal point for imparting IT training to teachers across the state, is a key deliverable of the MoU signed between Microsoft and the Maharashtra government, for implementation of Microsoft's Partners-in-Learning program.






Under the MoU, Microsoft aims to set up two IT Academy Centers in Pune and Nagpur for training over 20,000 teachers and 2,00,000 students (From class III to class XII) over a five-year period. The Pune IT Academy is located at the MSCERT Campus, Kumthekar Road covering an area of 3500 sq ft.





Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Vilasrao Deshmukh and Microsoft Corporation India chairman Ravi Venkatesan inaugurated the IT Academy. While a combination of Tablet PCs and 20 PCs are used for the routine training process, a laptop has been provided to the IT Academy Manager who is required to visit various schools across the state to ensure consistency in delivery process. The IT training courseware is translated in Marathi. Microsoft will run a 12 days training program free of cost for participating teachers to equip them to use technology in teaching students in a classroom environment.





Deshmukh said, "We believe that through technology, we can create a skilled resource base in our state comprising of the next generation of professionals. The IT Academy inaugurated today, will encourage early adoption of technologies by both students and teachers across government schools in the state and will help deliver on our vision."





Apart from setting up of the IT Academy Centers in Pune and Nagpur, the MoU between Microsoft and the Government of Maharashtra for Partners-in-Learning, entails creation of a localized IT curriculum for students, rolling-out of teacher and student scholarship programs and setting up of a teachers portal.












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