Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Karan Bajwa, Director, Public Sector, Microsoft India said, "Today Gujarat is symbolic of the best in India. As it moves into its next stage of the development process and focuses on enhancing its socio-economic index, we believe IT will play a key enabling role. A continued focus on education is imperative to help people achieve their potential. We are proud and excited to partner with the state of Gujarat in its efforts."

A focal part of the agreement will involve building IT readiness in both pre and in-service school teachers under "Microsoft's Partners in Learning."

"Partners in Learning" is Microsoft's global program that provides the education community with resources and training. In India alone, more than 270,000 teachers have already been trained and empowered by it.

Microsoft will also set up an IT Academy at Ahmadabad, equipped with the state of the art IT systems and will focus on curriculum innovation and upgrading master trainers under this program.

The MoU also entails the adoption of IT curriculum developed by Microsoft for students of classes VI through X, as well as a Joint Certification for higher education students after completion of the MS Digital Literacy curriculum. This is expected to have the additional benefit of enhancing the employability skills of the youth.

Another important component of the agreement includes 'DreamSpark' - a Microsoft program that offers thousands of dollars worth of free Microsoft software development tools to all higher education students.

The state colleges will also be eligible to implement the 'Live@Edu' program that makes sharing, collaborating and just staying connected easier for both the faculty and students.

The engagement will also include implementation of Education Management and Information system and Campus Management, a comprehensive solution that addresses all stake holders in education and helps in easy administration, collates information from schools, clusters, block and district on all parameters that are required to monitor and evaluate educational ecosystem across the state.

Source : indiaedunews