AISECT to open 300 IT training centers in Gujarat

Bhopal-based AISECT Ltd, one of the leading IT education, training and services network, is set to open 300 centers across Gujarat over the next one year. The expansion plan is part of the company's growth strategy for the next year wherein about 1,600 AISECT centers would be launched across states like Rajasthan, Punjab, Gujarat and Maharashtra by mid-2011.

While AISECT already has 125 centers across Gujarat in areas like Surat, Baroda, Ahmedabad, Anand and Junagadh, the new centres will focus on providing ICT skills as well as entrepreneurial opportunities to people in semi-urban and rural areas as well. "Our primary objective for launching these centers is to tap the huge student base residing at the district and block levels. Millions of students in rural India are denied access to high quality, employment oriented and skill development based education. Merely two per cent of the Indian youth between the age group of 15–29 years have received formal vocational training. Through our network of ICT-based AISECT centers, we want to help bridge this gap," said Santosh Choubey, chairman and managing director, AISECT Ltd. The AISECT centers would offer a variety of University-certified undergraduate, postgraduate, certificate and diploma courses in the areas of IT and ITeS, hardware and networking, banking, finance, insurance and rural management.

"Last year, we entered into a strategic partnership with IGNOU through which AISECT courses are now certified by IGNOU. Moreover, select AISECT centers, meeting the infrastructure norms and faculty criteria, can become AISECT-IGNOU Study Centers and offer IGNOU certified degree programs to students. Thus, students in all parts of Gujarat can now look forward to receiving skill-based and employment oriented education with an added advantage of getting certification from an internationally recognized university," said Choubey.

Apart from functioning as education hubs, the AISECT centers will also deliver services including data processing and data entry, exam form downloading and results viewing among other things.