Wipro to train Teachers at University of Massachusetts

Wipro Limited, a subsidiary of Indian IT major Wipro will train 120 school teachers at University of Massachusetts in Boston, US, over the next three years to foster excellence in science education among students.

“The 12-month fellowship programme is aimed at developing competencies in teachers and make them catalysts of change in schools where less privileged students from Boston and New York read,” the global software major said in a statement here Wednesday.

Funded by Wipro, the programme will select 40 science teachers from Boston and New York for the fellowship by Jan 2013 and the course will begin from Sep 1, 2013.

“The programme is part of our efforts to align with the US’s goal to engender an environment that instills and nurtures scientific temper and innovative spirit among young people,” Wipro chief executive T.K. Kurien said in the statement.

“The programme involves a set of activities to improve teachers’ pedagogical and content knowledge with the aim of boosting the performance of underprivileged students,” Kurien said.

The University of Massachusetts will partner with a university in New York and multiple school districts in Boston and New York to administer the programme.

“Wipro’s science education initiative aligns with the ‘educate to innovate’ campaign to improve the performance of US students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM),” Kurien noted.

University of Massachusetts Chanceller J. Keith Motley said effective STEM education was crucial to students’ success.

“We are upbeat on playing a role in providing Boston’s teachers with new skills for imparting mastery in these fields,” Motley said.

For the past decade, Wipro has been working towards empowering education in India with its ‘Applying Thought in Schools’ initiative to help in societal change and development by improving the quality of education.

The company works with teachers to enhance employability skills of engineering graduates across India through its not-for profit initiative Mission10X.