CATC Highlight - Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University
Through innovative leadership and strategic partnerships, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University in Coimbatore, India is improving ICT training opportunities in India and throughout South Asia. As a CATC for sponsored curricula, Amrita supports nearly 50 academies. As a regional academy for the Cisco CCNA curriculum, they support 30 academies. These academies are located in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Amrita is also the quality assurance (QA) academy for the region.
The legal main contact at Amrita, Sreevalsan M., is also chairman of the Cisco Networking Academy Council, which was established to help further the Networking Academy program within the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). As chairman, Sreevalsan facilitates communications and sharing of best practices among regional academies and oversees the implementation of regional events such as retooling seminars. As the legal main contact, Sreevalsan also helps academies in his region set up their Networking Academy courses and labs.
Sreevalsan has helped establish several programs and partnerships at Amrita that increase access to opportunities in the ICT field. For example, in support of the Rajasthan Education Initiative, which aims to build ICT capacity in the state of Rajasthan, Amrita is partnering with Cisco to provide IT Essentials training to teachers in government-run schools throughout Rajasthan.
Through a partnership with UNESCO, Amrita is also delivering IT Essentials training to instructors in India and Sri Lanka in support of UNESCO’s Next Generation Teacher Project. Furthermore, Amrita has supported the Dr. Reddy’s Foundation LABS initiative for the past two years by extending free academy support and mentoring. Dr. Reddy’s Foundation is involved in several community service projects, particularly in the areas of inclusion and education.
To improve educational opportunities for students in report areas, Sreevalsan hopes to deliver the IT Essentials curriculum through satellite connections and two-way, audio-video conferencing solutions, along with regular instructor visits in the near future. The training would be conducted at Village Resource Centers that have been established in South India by Amrita’s parent body, Mata Amritanadamayi Math, a humanitarian organization inspired and guided by Satguru Mata Amritanandamayi Devi.
The Networking Academy team at Amrita has also found innovative ways to incorporate aspects of the program into their educational offerings. For example, the CCNA curriculum has been integrated with the master’s program in computer applications, while the CCNP lab equipment bundle is being used to help students in the master’s of technology program learn about cyber security. Amrita also plans to expand their educational offerings to include the advanced technology curricula.
These are just a few examples of the amazing work done by Sreevalsan and his team, which includes Mr. Shrikrishnan and Mr. Sivadasan E T. The team also actively supports student recruitment at local and regional academies after instructors have completed their training, and are involved in the CLI Video Project.
During the past two years, Amrita has also won various awards and accolades in recognition of its contributions to the Networking Academy program.
We are grateful for the dedication and accomplishments of the CATC team at Amrita.
For more information:
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University
Rajasthan Education Initiative
Dr. Reddy’s Foundation LABS Initiative
Satguru Mata Amritanandamayi Devi
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