IT gives rural students the finesse
Today, in a flatter world, it’s the Indian software companies that are into the business of running finishing schools to help young code jocks from the hinterlands learn things like, how to communicate better, use a fork, and other etiquettes of t...
By Saket Amberkhane , TNN |
PUNE: Time was when ‘finishing schools’ were luxurious Swiss getaways where Europe’s blue-blooded girls in their late teens were sent to become perfect royal brides. They would brush up on their etiquette, table manners, culinary and floral art.
Today, in a flatter world, it’s the Indian software companies that are into the business of running finishing schools to help young code jocks from the hinterlands learn things like, how to communicate better, use a fork, and other etiquettes of the business world in general.
IT major Infosys has recently tied up with Shivaji University of Kolhapur in Maharashtra and Karnataka University of Dharwad to train undergraduates of the final year in communication skills. Not to be left too far behind, cross-town rival Wipro also announced it would start a finishing school at Chindwara in Madhya Pradesh to train students from rural areas to join BPO and IT firms.
Cognizant Technology Solutions is working with 3Edge Solutions, a Chennai-based finishing school, to get ‘ready-to-work’ graduates. Nasscom, along with ministry of HRD has recently launched finishing school courses in technical and soft skills in National Institute of Technology (NIT) at Roorkee, Trichy, Warangal, Jaipur, Durgapur, Kozikode, Kurukshetra and Surathkal in Karnataka.
The Pune Chapter of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with Symbiosis English Language Institute recently sponsored a three-month soft skills training session for the socially backward students in the city. The 35 students were taught the art of negotiating interviews, group discussion and public speaking.
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According to Nasscom, there will be a shortfall of over 500,000 employees for Indian IT and BPO sectors by 2010. A McKinsey Global institute study says that India produces about 360,000 engineering graduates and more than 600,000 arts and science graduates every year but only 25% of the engineering graduates and 10% of the non-engineering graduates are actually employable. These numbers are a telling tale of the demand supply gap which has swung IT majors into action. So is this the way forward for IT companies to fight attrition and talent crunch? “I think this is the model for the future. Students coming out of college need to polish their soft-skills to fit the job market. Currently, there is an unnecessary burden on the employer to train these students on soft skills when the industry should instead be focussing of upgrading their technical skills,” says TV Mohandas Pai, director, HR, Infosys.
Through such university and college level tie-ups, Infosys hopes to target 100,000 youngsters ready to enter the job market over the next two to three years. “This is our investment in improving the education system of our country and reduce the industry-academia divide,” adds Pai.
“We are targetting students from the rural areas, who are usually not hired up by IT/ BPO companies. This will increase our base of employable people. There would be a higher degree of loyalty also since these were students who would otherwise not have been employed by the IT sector,” said Azim Premji, chairman and CEO, Wipro Technologies during an informal interaction about starting the finishing school two months back. Wipro plans to target rural Maharastra as well by opening more such schools.
“We as the industry are obliging ourselves by training these students. There is a major talent crunch and these students are good except for their communication skills, hence we are just making the educated employable. CII chapters of Goa and Ahmedabad are also looking at starting similar initiatives,” said Pradeep Bhargava, vice-chairman, CII, Maharashtra council.
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