Karim: New educational platforms to focus on ICT technologies

Minister Fazal Karim meets with Dr. S. S. Mantha,

Chairman of All India Council for Technical Education

Officials of the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Tertiary Education (MSTTE) have held discussions with a number of National Institutions and Government Agencies in New Delhi.

Members of the ministry's official delegation from the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) and the National ICT Company Ltd. (iGovTT) held discussions with Dr. Vijay Thandani, Chief Executive Officer of NIIT on the various modalities of educational delivery platforms. 

Commenting on the talks at a briefing session with the Ministry’s Team which included the Chairmen of NIHERST, UTT, YTEPP and iGovTT, Minister Fazal Karim indicated that “the focus of the Ministry this year must be on the pursuit of a knowledge driven society in Trinidad and Tobago through technological applications to support learning and development.” 

He went on to say that “the signing of the Technical Cooperation Agreement with the Government of India can assist in this initiative”.

NIIT is a leading Global Talent Development Corporation, building a skilled manpower pool for the global IT industry. It was set up in 1981, to help the nascent IT industry in India overcome its human resource challenges, and has today grown to be amongst the world’s leading companies offering learning solutions to individuals, enterprises and institutions across 40 countries. 

It is primarily involved in two business activities: learning and software development. Recently it established a separate entity, the NIIT University, to provide formal university education using innovative technology and education delivery approaches.

NIIT indicated its interest to work with UTT and iGovTT in developing policy and enhancing delivery platforms for Government services and proposed to visit Trinidad and Tobago in March 2012.

The minister also held meetings with the Ministry for Human Resource Development and the All India Council for Technical Education for support in strengthening the vocational sector. 

The University of the West Indies (UWI) officials also engaged in discussions with several institutions to strengthen the capacity of the University. They met with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in New Delhi, which was voted No. 3 in a list of all Technical Universities in the world in 2009. 

UWI personnel discussed faculty and student exchanges, together with the development of joint programmes. 

Similar discussions were held with the Jawaharlal Nehru University and the National University of Education Planning and Administration (NUEPA). 

Additionally, a meeting was held with the Energy and Resource Institute in which an agreement was reached for a demonstration lab to be set up at the UWI focused on technologies related to alternative energy systems, techniques and products.