The Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) virtually signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Microsoft during the virtual event ‘Empowering Youth For Success’ for digital transformation of Tribal schools such as Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS), Ashram Schools, and other schools under MoTA.
Objective – To skill educators and students in next-generation technologies including Artificial Intelligence.
- Under the agreement, Microsoft will make the Artificial Intelligence (AI) curriculum available to tribal students in English and Hindi at all EMRS schools. This is to ensure inclusion and access.
- During the 1st phase of the program, 250 EMRS schools will be adopted by Microsoft for the purpose.
- The main aim of the agreement is to build an inclusive, skills based economy.
- The meeting was virtually attended by Arjun Munda, Union Minister of Tribal Affairs; Renuka Saruta, Minister of State for Tribal Affairs; Navtez Bal, Executive Director – Public Sector, Microsoft India.
Key Points
i.Out of 250, 50 EMRS schools will be given intensive training and 500 master trainers would be trained in the 1st phase.
- Schools will be equipped with technology, training and tools which are required to transform them into Microsoft Showcase Schools.
ii.The initiative will also enable professional development of teachers, to enable them to use technology in classrooms.
- They will be trained for using productivity technologies (such as Office 365) and AI applications in Teaching.
- They can earn professional e-badges and e-certificates from the Microsoft Education Centre.
iii.Under the partnership, students from schools under the Tribal Ministry will be mentored on projects which involve AI applications for societal good and UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
- They will also be trained to develop their design thinking skills.
Recent Related News:
October 13, 2020, Microsoft has partnered with AICTE to empower students, educators in Next-Generation Technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Data Science and Cloud Computing.
About Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA)
Union Minister – Arjun Munda (Lok Sabha – Khunti, Jharkhand)
Minister of State – Renuka Singh Saruta (Lok Sabha – Surguja, Chhattisgarh)
About Microsoft
CEO – Satya Nadella
Headquarters – Redmond, Washington, USA
