Bengaluru, Oct 27 (IANS): The Department of Collegiate and Technical Education (DCTE) under its 'Help Educate' initiative entered into an MoU with IT pioneer Infosys aimed at transforming the way students of higher education learn and shape their careers. It is expected to benefit 5 lakh students and faculty every year.

The MoU was signed on Wednesday at Vidhana Soudha in presence of C.N. Ashwath Narayan, the Minister for Higher Education. Presiding over the event he said, The MoU will benefit about 5 lakh students and faculty belonging to higher education. The Minister added, this facilitates blended learning and industry readiness of learners as per the aspirations of NEP-2020.

"The MoU includes three components of providing access to Infosys Springboard which has 4,900 plus courses and 1.6 lakh learning resources, providing faculty development program and supporting the government in setting up digital infrastructure by donating 15,000 debonded computers", he explained.

"Infosys Springboard is a digital platform developed at a cost of Rs 35 crore by the IT major which enables to acquire multiple digital skills along with life skills. The platform comprising of virtual labs, gamification, and other interesting features also provides access to industry experts and enables to fill the gap between industry requirements and skillsets of students. About 1.6 learning resources incorporated in this includes audios, videos, animations, etc," Narayan stated.

The donation of 15,000 debonded computers by Infosys will almost end the shortage of computers in Government Diploma, Polytechnic and Engineering colleges of the state. Out of the required 30,000 computers now 27,000 computers worth Rs 135 crore have been donated by companies under DTCE's "Help Educate" initiative, Narayan said.

The vehicle carrying 300 debonded computers to SJ Polytechnic (KR Circle, Bengaluru) was also flagged off by Minister Narayan at the Entrance of Vidhana Soudha.