Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], October 12 (ANI): Karnataka State Higher Education Council (SHEC) on Tuesday entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) on Tuesday.

The aim is to provide industry-aligned skill development experiences to students of higher education.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in presence of the Minister for Higher Education Dr. C.N. Ashwatha Narayana at Vidhana Soudha.

Speaking on the occasion, Narayana told, "All universities in the state are covered under this MoU and will benefit more than 5 lakh students of (studying in government and private institutions) higher education every year.""This MoU will allow Skill development courses available on the "Future Skills Prime" platform of NASSCOM to be available to all the students and faculty members of Higher Education Institutions of Karnataka state," Minister Narayana stated.

The Minister further explained, "Skill development needs to focus on aligning skill courses with standards, faculty training, and infrastructure resources. All these three aspects are considered in this initiative. The courses available on 'Future Skills Prime' are as per national occupational standards of the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF). All these courses will have access online for both faculty and students and those who want to learn these courses can access it on computers as well as tablets or smartphones."The Minister pointed out, "Under the MoU, three courses of Digital Fluency, Artificial Intelligence, and Cyber Security will become part of the curriculum. They will be made available free of cost to non-Computer Science students and faculty members of the state. All these courses will have the theory and practical components guarantying the skill development among the learners."He said, "As per study reports, though the Indian IT services industry has the potential to touch $300-350 billion in revenues by 2025, the lack of digital talent would be a major challenge to be resolved in reaching this milestone. The demand for digital skills in India is eight times what is available and will rise 20 times by 2024."He said that the National Education Policy 2020 emphasizes skill development. Undergraduate degree programs will focus on employability skills thereby preparing the state for digital transformation.

Professor B.Thimmegowda, Vice-Chairman, SHEC, and other officials were present at the event. (ANI)