IAMAI Creates EdTech Group to Facilitate Job Creation for New Economy

Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has announced the launch of an EdTech group as part of its efforts to energise the education technology sector so that it can fulfill its potential of facilitating job creation for the new economy in the country. Given the dual dynamism of technology and nature of jobs, there is a dire need to transition to a skill based continuous education system and the need to bridge the divide between academia and industry. Therefore, the mandate of the Group is to identify opportunities and challenges and work with government, industry and job seekers to resolve them. 

 The committee will be chaired by Ishan Gupta, MD, Udacity India and co-chaired by Mayank Kumar, Co-founder & CEO, Upgrad. Some other members of the committee are Abhay Chauhan, Amity University Online; Pawan Prabhat, EduPristine; Pavan Chauhan, Meritnation; Kapil Saurabh, NIIT; Krishna Kumar, Simplilearn; Vamsi Krishna, Vedantu; Harman Singh, WizIQ; Nishant Patni, CultureAlley; Aditi Avasthi, Embibe; Surabhi Dewra, CareerGuide amongst others.

 On the agenda of this Group will be to a) building more credibility for acceptance of online courses and democratizing education across the country; b) engaging with business and industry to evangelise acceptance of students trained through EdTech and c) working with educational institutions to include online courses in their mainstream curriculum.

 The Group will also propose actualizing common assessments for all courses approved by UGC and AICTE and certifying EdTech companies to impart education on graduation and post graduation courses. It will work closely with various government bodies and programmes to explore possibilities for increased investment and promotion of skill based education in the country.

 Ishan Gupta, chairperson, EdTech Group, IAMAI & MD, Udacity India said, “In the current scenario, traditional education is unable to cope up with the industry requirements as the existing curriculum in institutes does not complement the workforce demand. To bridge this gap, industry focused online courses are more in demand today to enhance the academic landscape and enable students to grasp the concepts better. Mayank Kumar, Co-chairperson EdTech Group, IAMAI & Co-Founder and CEO, Upgrad, added “Along with eminent leaders of education industry we aim to revolutionise the education industry and ensure that our country has a skilled talent pool for dynamic job roles of tomorrow.”