Tamil Nadu govt ties up with Coursera to skill 50,000 youth

Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation (TNSDC) has partnered with the online learning platform Coursera to train 50,000 unemployed youth.

The partnership is part of Coursera's global roll-out of the workforce recovery initiative, where any state and country can provide unemployed workers with free access to online learning, Coursera said in a statement on Saturday.

TNSDC is making 4,000 courses on Coursera available to 50,000 unemployed youths across the state through this partnership. The programme aims to develop high-demand skills like data science, cloud computing, blockchain, AI, and the Internet of Things.

It will also include access to highly sought after professional certificates like the Google IT Support Professional Certificate, designed to train people with no tech background for IT jobs.

"We have been taking various initiatives to build a skilled workforce that companies around the world find attractive to employ. The present pandemic induced slowdown is an opportunity for students and graduates seeking jobs as well as professionals who are aspiring for a career growth, to equip themselves in future skills, TNSDC Managing Director V Vishnu stated.

Coursera CEO Jeff Maggioncalda said that employability and skilling is a major challenge around the world, and Covid-19 has made it worse.