Oracle signs agreement with ICT Academy of Kerala

NEW DELHI: Earlier this year, Oracle CEO Safra Catz unveiled plans to expand the company’s computer science education efforts throughout India in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiatives, including “Digital India” and “Skill India.”  Today, Oracle announced a new collaboration with ICT Academy of Kerala (ICTAK) that supports Oracle’s overarching goal of educating 500,000 students in India annually through Oracle Academy, the company’s flagship philanthropic educational program.

As part of the new partnership, 125 colleges in Kerala will become members of the Oracle Academy program. Over the next three years, ICTAK intends to leverage Oracle Academy resources to create strong computer science education pathways for 6,000 students as they prepare to launch successful careers in the IT field and meet growing demands for a highly skilled technology workforce in Kerala.

Working with ICTAK, Oracle Academy will train 500 educators on its academic curriculum in Java Foundations, Java Fundamentals, Java Programming, Database Foundations, Database Design & Programming with SQL, and Programming with PL/SQL. After these educators are trained, they will be tasked to pass on this training to other teachers.

Additionally, ICTAK will deliver a customized course in Java fundamentals to students through the Government of Kerala’s Additional Skill Acquisition Program (ASAP). The technical portion of the course uses Oracle Academy’s Java Fundamentals course. This program aims to educate 500 students annually, in addition to those students who will be educated using Oracle Academy courses.

“We are happy to expand Oracle Academy’s collaboration with ICT Academy of Kerala through this new agreement, which will enable us to provide professional development for more teachers in more subjects, and in turn will enable them to reach even more students,” said Damian Haas, regional director, Oracle Academy, Asia Pacific and Japan. “Oracle remains committed to helping prepare students for well-paying careers in technology fields, and to supporting Prime Minister Modi’s “Skills India” initiative.”

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Even though Kerala has one of the highest literacy rates among states in India, we want to provide new avenues for students to become knowledgeable in IT. Coding skills are necessary across a wide range of industries, so we are very excited to work with Oracle Academy in advancing computer science education in our region,” said Santhosh Kurup, CEO of ICT Academy of Kerala.

Oracle Academy currently collaborates with more than 1,700 educational institutions in India. The program supports over 2.6 million students across 106 countries annually. In the past fiscal year, Oracle Academy delivered nearly US $3.3 billion in resources globally to help prepare students for life and work in today’s modern technology-driven economy.