IIT Ropar-PSDM launches free program on Artificial Intelligence for Punjab school students
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in
Because of the National Lockdown, due to COVID crisis, schools and higher education institutions faced many challenges, while moving their operating model to online overnight, as most follow a classroom-led delivery model. This has led to an overarching dropout rate among students in Punjab and India as a whole. UNESCO recently released a projection covering 180 countries, estimating that 24 million children may not return to education in 2020 due to the pandemic. With schools shut for nearly six months, children especially in rural areas helping their parents in MNREGA schemes.
To help students in the hour of need when free education like a skilled course to obtain a certification in a booming career like AI and Data Science, IIT Ropar has joined hands with Punjab Skill Development Mission to impart classes on Artificial Intelligence and Data Science through a Certificate Course, a skilling programme that is primarily designed for youth from Punjab, with schooling until 12th grade.
Dr. Rohit Sharma and Dr. Satyam Agarwal faculty members of the Department of Electrical Engineering have been awarded this project by PSDM for a duration of one year. While giving details about the training modules, they highlighted that, “Last year, due to pandemic and closure of traditional schooling, In Punjab we have seen 14 of the 22 districts, the boys’ dropout rate is more than 12% at secondary level whereas it is “very high” in Ferozepur and Moga districts at 14% and 16%. Similarly, the decline in transition rate – percentage of students advancing from one level of schooling to the next, say from middle to secondary – is another concern highlighted by the Ministry of Education, GoI. The transition rate from secondary to higher secondary is less than 80% in districts. The lowest transition rate of 55% is in Tarn Taran district and 65% in Ferozepur district.”
“The first of its kind course is designed to cater the demand and need for Data Scientists and AI workforce in near future. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been used by companies like Google to personalize and enhance the performance and user experience. The Data Science space in India, specifically the AI function, is evolving into a creative enterprise segment, as revealed in the Computer Vision Market report and the AI and Analytics start-up investment report. MNC Technology, Domestic, Advanced Engineering, Healthcare, and Semiconductor companies, to name a few, are now building advanced Artificial Intelligence capabilities in India and providing top-notch AI services to companies across various industries and geographies.”
IIT Ropar-PSDM launches free program for Punjab school students. Students applying for the course needs to qualify Advanced Data Science Aptitude Test(A-DSAT), A-DSAT on IIT Ropar Online Quizplatform and can be given byany candidate who passed the 12thstandard in any stream with a minimum55 percentage of marks in Mathematics.
The training and certification of the youth of Punjab in AI or DS will be done through the following modules:L-2 Program or 4 Weeks Program (20Days)L-3 Program or 12 Weeks Program(60 Days). The student can choose any module. The L-2 program provides the entire toolbox a student need to become data scientist.
The L-3 which is a sixty-day program will give complete in-depth knowledge about the concepts. There will be multiple assignments in between the course to make sure that whatever the candidates are learning can also implement with perfection.
IIT Ropar will also provide platform to translate AI R&D and Ideas into powerful use-cases and mature them as scalable ventures.
June 28,2021
