Prakat partners with Bharathiar University to equip non-engineering students with software testing skills

• Prakat Solutions has partnered with Bharathiar University, Coimbatore to offer its students a course on software testing leading to an earn-while-you-learn program
• More than 3000 students will equip themselves with industry-standard testing skills in the first phase
• Participation in this earn-while-you-learn program will allow students to get experience certificates for projects executed and a stipend for the efforts they put in
• The first train-the-trainer program is being held at Bharathiar University, Coimbatore and Nandha Arts and Science College, Erode between January 4^th and January 7^th
• This will prepare students to embrace a career in the USD 80+ billion software testing industry

Bangalore. January 7, 2011: Prakat Solutions, the Bangalore based independent software testing (IST) service provider has partnered with Bharathiar University, Coimbatore to roll out a comprehensive program that will equip the non-engineering students of the university with skills in software testing. In the first phase of this training about one third of the 104 colleges affiliated with Bharathiar University are participating in the program. Some of the colleges that are participating in this program include Government Arts and Science College from Coimbatore, NGM College from Pollachi, Nanda College of Arts and Sciences from Erode, VNM Janakiammal College from Coimbatore, Kongu Arts and Science College from Erode, Dr NGP Arts and Science College from Coimbatore, Sri Vasavi College from Erode, Sri Krishna College from Coimbatore. The program will not only provide more than 3000 students with necessary employability skills but will also help them earn while they learn, in the form of stipends.

The two-stage program offered by Prakat is aimed at equipping both teachers and students with the necessary, industry-standard skills in software testing. The first stage involves a thorough training to faculty members. The first such Train the Trainer program is being conducted between January 4, 2011 to January 7, 2011 at Bharathiar University, Coimbatore and the Nandha College of Arts and Sciences, Erode. The training is conducted over 4 days where practical techniques of teaching and executing software testing projects are provided to the faculty.

The second part of the program involves class-room and practical sessions led by the faculty for the non-engineering students. The first phase of the program is expected to end by Feb 2011. Prakat will assist this process by providing projects, techniques and software tools required for working on these projects. The emphasis of the entire program will be on learning by doing rather than classroom study.

Taking this industry-engagement initiative one step further, Prakat will provide selective students live projects – the selection itself will be based on the students’ performance in projects, their overall college performance, faculty discretion and their own willingness to work. The live projects will focus primarily on usability and functionality testing of websites and portals. The student is expected to put in about 20 hours of work per month. Prakat will also provide a stipend and experience certificates to students based on their effectiveness.

The students who become a part of this program can be a part of Prakat’s ‘globally distributed workforce’ and can earn money by testing software from the comfort of their homes. For students from smaller towns, who find it difficult to relocate due to various reasons, this program can be a source of long term career option.

According to Anuradha Biswas, CEO, Prakat Solutions “Our tie-up with Bharathiar University is an effort to provide non-engineering students a platform to be a part of the IT revolution. We believe that students of diverse disciplines like commerce, bio-technology, statistics etc. can be as good a test engineer as anyone else. Today testing is more about domain expertise and the ability to think laterally than mere computer skills.

This program will equip students with necessary skills to test software and will provide them an exposure to how the IT industry functions. The live projects that students will work upon will make them industry-ready from day one and will also help them embrace software testing as a career. With Indian IT industry facing a severe shortage of more than 8,00,000 quality professionals to meet our goals for the year 2020 set by NASSCOM, leveraging the expertise of non IT graduates can be a significant way forward. Moreover, emerging technologies like cloud computing, these students can now work out of their homes thereby leading to reduced costs and more efficiency for the industry.”

Dr. M Jayakumar, Director Department of Extension and Career Guidance, Bharathiar University said “We are glad to tie-up with Prakat Solutions for this unique program. Not only will it provide better employment opportunities to our students, it will also provide them with much needed industry exposure. Also, since the students have the opportunity to build a career without relocating to bigger cities, it can turn out to be a good career move for many of them.”

About Bharathiar University:

The Bharathiar University was established at Coimbatore by the Government of Tamilnadu in February, 1982 under the provision of the Bharathiar University Act, 1981 (Act 1 of 1982). The Postgraduate Centre of the University of Madras, which was functioning in Coimbatore before 1982 formed the core of the Bharathiar University. In May, 1985 the University received the recognition from University Grants Commission (UGC) New Delhi for the purpose of grants.

The University, named after the great national poet Subramania Bharathi is enshrined with the motto “Educate to Elevate”. In the University, every effort is harnessed to realize his dream of making educational institutions as temple of learning. It is the aim of the University to participate in the task of inculcating necessary Knowledge, Skills and Creative Attitudes and values among the youth of the country to contribute more effectively towards establishing an equitable social and economic and secular ideal of our nation.

About Prakat Solutions:

Prakat Solutions is a cloud based independent software testing (IST) service provider that helps clients significantly improve the effectiveness of their application development and testing functions.

Prakat achieves this by its domain focused, globally scalable and quality committed testing expertise that trims down time lines, shrinks Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) costs and delivers business ready solutions to its customers. The company is headquartered out of Bangalore and has offices in Texas, USA and Bangalore, India. For more information about Prakat Solutions, please visit www.prakat.com or call +91 80 41 468 916.