The Odisha employment and technical education department has shortlisted 43 technical colleges for setting up of Microsoft IT Academy in every district headquarters. Out of the 43 institutions, four are yet to impart courses as they are under construction.
“It may be mentioned that the existing government engineering colleges/polytechnics/ITIs have got basic IT infrastructure like computer lab with at least 10 computers and broadband connectivity as required for opening Microsoft IT Academy (MS-ITA),” said Hemant Sharma, secretary for technical education in his recommendation letter.
However, it was not clear how many IT academies will be built by Microsoft. In other parts of the country, where the software major has opened such facilities, the number has not gone beyond five per single city or town.
The IT academy program of Microsoft is designed to provide basic computer skill educations to students studying at various government institutions. The firm runs the programme across the globe.