IBM announced a collaboration with the Department of School Education in Arunachal Pradesh to introduce the IBM STEM for Girls program in more than 130 secondary and higher secondary schools across 15 districts in the state.
More than 13,500 students studying between 8th and 10th grade will have exposure to digital fluency, coding skills training and 21st-century skills including life and career skills. It is a part of IBM’s commitment to skilling 30 million people worldwide by 2030.
This initiative is part of a three-year program between IBM and the state government with Quest Alliance and AlombroMayuYaku Chi AmeyAroga as the implementation partners to further help increase the participation of girl children and women in STEM careers. AMYAA will hire facilitators to support the school processes and will anchor the advocacy and liasiing with district education officials for executing the program.
Students will be able to access curricula in multiple settings including via IBM SkillsBuild which providers learners with coursework that provides introductions to foundational technologies used in many industries uch as cloud computing and AI. It will also empower 650 teachers in intervention schools and enable them to transform into 21st-century educators. It allow teachers to engage/train students on computational thinking, STEM and agency development for girls. It currently running in 13 states, has successfully engaged with hundreds of thousands of students.
The Managing Director IBM India Sandip Patel said, “We aim to advocate, spread awareness and sensitize the school system, teachers and educators on inclusive practices for promoting girls in technology.”