With a vision to build an inclusive, skills-based economy in the state, the Government of Andhra Pradesh, Department of Higher Education (APHeD) and Microsoft today announced a strategic partnership to train 1,62,000 students and unemployed youth across 300+ colleges, and skill development centers in the state. This first-of-its-kind partnership aims to provide a holistic skilling solution, empowering the youth of Andhra Pradesh with next generation digital skills.
Microsoft will collaborate with APHeD to create a holistic and scalable skilling experience that includes access to learning content on Microsoft’s learning resource center, Microsoft Learn, educational webinars, experiential learning through hands-on lab exercises and industry certifications courses from Microsoft and LinkedIn. Additionally, every learner will receive a free $100 Azure credit for practical experiential learning, test preparation and certification to become a Microsoft Certified Professional.
Over 40 courses and certifications will be made available to students on Microsoft Learn, covering a broad range of emerging technologies such as cloud computing, AI, data sciences, IOT and M365, among others. To enhance their employability, students and youth will also get access to over 8600 courses on LinkedIn Learning to develop not just their technical skills but also their business knowledge and soft skills.
Announcing this association, Anant Maheshwari, President, Microsoft India, said, “Digital skilling is a fundamental building block for making India self-reliant and empowering everyone to succeed in a digital economy. We are deeply invested in creating a digital skills ecosystem that prepares India’s workforce for jobs of the future. Our partnership with the Government of Andhra Pradesh, who have been a strong advocate of digital transformation of education is a significant step in this direction. We are committed to empowering the youth of Andhra Pradesh with the skills and learning paths needed to connect them more readily with new job opportunities.”
Quote from the AP Government spokespersons
Honorable Minister for Skill Development and IT, Sree Mekapati Goutham Reddy:
Amaravati, April 22: Andhra Pradesh Government will sign an MoU with I.T gaint Microsoft on April 23. Microsoft will be partnering with Skill development, training and education department to increase employment opportunities in the state and agreed to train and provide certifications to 1,62,000 youth. Industries Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy will be participating the event virtually from his camp office in Nellore district. Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy said that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has instructed to make every house ‘digital connect’ in the state and the target is to make sure digital connect’ to 80 lakh houses in three years. He said focus is being laid on ‘remote learning’ a major challenge during covid. He said learning and skill will be given priority and efforts are being made the provide computers and laptops to 1.30 crore people. He said utmost priority will be given to infrastructure development and soft Technology upgradation to students. He said the plans are being made to ensure training is given to teachers with changing requirements and opportunities and added that plans are also being prepared for students to ensure they get job after education.
Honorable Education Minister Sree Adimulapu Suresh:
In order to prepare future graduates for work, universities must align their teaching and processes with technological advancements.
And also Education was no longer centered upon a back and forth between students and teachers, but instead took on a more networked approach, with students having their own direct connection to a variety of different information sources. This has encouraged the development of a more personalized way of learning where the student’s independence and unique approach to study was celebrated.
Education 4.0 is a desired approach to learning that aligns itself with the emerging fourth industrial revolution. This industrial revolution focuses on smart technology, artificial intelligence, and robotics; all of which now impact our everyday lives. For universities to continue to produce successful graduates, they must prepare their students for a world where these cyber-physical systems are prevalent across all industries. This means teaching students about this technology as part of the curriculum, changing the approach to learning altogether, and utilizing this technology to better improve the university experience.
Keeping these advancements in requirements, the Government of Andhra Pradesh has embarked on a collaboration with the technology company – Microsoft to skill the students and unemployed youth in emerging technologies. The vision of the Government is to train 1, 62, 000 students and unemployed youth across 200 above colleges.
Such type of skill training imparted by the industry and with its industry certifications, particularly technical certifications will definitely help us to build a skilled workforce that meets the needs of employers for in- demand jobs with skill in emerging areas like Data Science and Artificial Intelligence. This skilled manpower will also fill the gap of the industry requirements and the academia.
It is believed that such type of Future Skills make the students’ job ready and thereby the industry need not
waste time and energy for reskilling and upskilling the entry level workforce, fresh from the academics.
The Memorandum of Understanding with Microsoft will definitely help the students of Andhra Pradesh to get hands-on with technology and learn solutions for the future.
With this MoU in operation, the eligible students can start building apps, explore the applications of Artificial Intelligence and make the most of Big Data analysis.
This MoU with Microsoft will give a fillip to the skill training ecosystem of the Government of Andhra Pradesh.
Special Officer to the Overseas Affairs AP Chief Minister’s Office Dr. Harikrishna:
Good Evening everyone.
1. Firstly, I would like to thank Satya Nadella garu led Microsoft and its team for this great initiative that has potential to transform families of 1.6 lakh students in the state.
2. I also, would like to reiterate the fact that AP Government under the leadership of Hon’ble Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy garu are excited and happy to be a part of this cornerstone initiative, that is first of its kind in the world.
3. It is a great day in the History, the initiative is a beacon in the dark times that we are all facing where access to learning is limited and is unaffordable to many sections in the society.
4. We see it as an Opportunity to transform the quality of learning in the State of Andhra Pradesh and will extend every support in this regard to ensure that all the outcomes listed are achieved.
5. I still remember our first meeting regarding this on July 5, 2020, in Atlanta, USA- almost 9 months, and our successful 8 video conferences and 2 in-person meetings with various Microsoft officials.
6. I would like to thank everyone involved in this and those who are going to involve in future. I especially thank our Hon’ble CM, Hon’ble Educational Minister, Hon’ble Skill Development Minister, Special Chief Secretary of the State, and the Chairman of APSCHE, Coordinator Overseas Education for making this initiative to train more than 1.6 Lakh students a reality.
7. I would also like to inform you that AP under the able leadership of Sri YS Jagan Mohan Reddy garu is looking forward to work with Microsoft in other areas and will extend all the necessary support to initiatives and innovations in Future.
8. Lastly, these eight months of discussions to make the dream into reality had provided me opportunity to meet each of you and learn and unlearn a lot of things and I want to extend my gratitude to each one of you for providing me with this opportunity.
I want to Conclude by quoting – Swami Vivekananda – “A Nation is advanced in proportion to education and intelligence spread among the masses”
Thank You all.
Microsoft in Skilling
Microsoft has been working with the government, industry bodies and non-profit partners in India to create a strong digital skilling ecosystem. Last year, Microsoft joined hands with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) in India to empower 1 lakh underserved young women and youth across India with digital skills. Microsoft has also partnered with the Directorate General of Training (DGT), Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and NASSCOM Foundation to create learning pathways for students at the Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) in India. To promote skilling as a national priority, NASSCOM FutureSkills and Microsoft collaborated last year to launch a nation-wide AI skilling initiative that aims to skill 1 million students in AI by 2021. In June 2020, Microsoft announced a Global Skilling Initiative to help skill 25 million people who have lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So far, over 30 million people in 249 countries now have access to digital skills, of which close to three million are from India.
About Microsoft India
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Microsoft set up its India operations in 1990. Today, Microsoft entities in India have over 13,000 employees, engaged in sales and marketing, research, development and customer services and support, across 11 Indian cities – Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, New Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune. Microsoft offers its global cloud services from local data centers to accelerate digital transformation across Indian startups, businesses, and government organizations.
