24x7 learning to tie up with 85 engg colleges

Move expected to make students suitable for IT companies

The e-learning solutions provider, 24x7 learning, which raised $10 million from venture fund Angel Investors and KITVEN early this year, is all set to launch its new vertical within the company, Academic Solutions Group (ASG), next month.

The company, which till now was engaged in upgrading skills of employees of firms (mainly IT sector) through its enterprise solutions group (ESG), is now set to go one step ahead and train students in over 85 engineering colleges in tier-II and tier-III cities across the country to meet the requirements of the IT industry.

Founder and managing director, 24x7 learning, Karthik K S said, "There is a huge demand from the IT sector for skilled workers. The non-availability of 'employable' engineering and computer science graduates prompted us to go to engineering colleges and train the students on various aspects. We are targeting only tier-II and tier-III cities, because students of top engineering colleges fair better in campus recruitment and job interviews."

24x7 learning has already implemented its intellectual capital management platform "� LearnTrack "� at companies like Wipro, A V Birla Group, Bharti Televentures, Accenture, Ashok Leyland, Murugappa Group, Patni, Network Solutions (an IBM company), Convergys, JP Morgan and Xansa among others.

The company's ASG programme is aimed at imparting necessary employable skills to engineering graduates and MCA degree holders, so as to make them industry ready.

It will help colleges groom their students with a six-month of additional training in latest technologies in addition to soft skills, which is important in getting a job, Karthik said.

This is expected to bridge the present gap as majority of the fresh graduates are not meeting industry expectations, especially the requirements of the IT industry, Karthik said.

Citing the Nasscom-McKinsey report that has predicated a demand-supply mismatch of about half a million engineers by 2009, he said: "We plan to train about 50,000 students in the first year by tying up with engineering colleges, mainly in the tier-II and tier-III colleges."

He said that Indian companies are spending nearly $3 billion annually to send their workers abroad for training. Most of the IT companies are providing up to six months of training to the new recruits before putting them into live projects. "Considering these facts we decided to approach engineering colleges and prepare the final year students to be industry ready by the time they complete their graduation," he added.

24x7 learning aims to train students on issues like facing interviews, project management and, soft skills like communication and leadership building. "By partnering tier II and tier III colleges, we will help them groom students with six months of additional training that will not only hone up technology skills but also soft skills, which is key to recruiters," he said.

The company has shortlisted around 85 institutions on a pan-India basis for rolling out its ambitious ASG programme simultaneously in August this year. The company will charge Rs 4,000-14,000 per student depending on the module one selects. At the end of the course, students will also be given a certificate.

"We have discussed with the companies and understood their requirements. We will train the students based on their needs," Karthik said.

The worldwide market for eLearning and learning management solutions is estimated around $23 billion and is growing at a steady pace.

The company has also set up another division, International Solutions Group (ISG) to tap overseas market. It has already received enquiries from companies in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Malaysia for providing its solutions.

The company has partnered SkillSoft, for providing business skills content. It will fine tune the curriculum regularly based on the based on the feedback from companies.

The company also aims to facilitate IT companies to conduct campus interviews in tier-II and tier-III engineering colleges next year, Karthik added.