Press Release

2012

World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand emphasises the importance of employability skills for undergraduates

Applauds NIIT Careers@Campus programs for bringing industry-aligned curriculum to undergraduates through in-campus training modules
Congratulates SSM College, Komarapalayam, for completing one year of launching NIIT Careers@Campus programs
Komarapalayam, December 22, 2012: NIIT Limited, leading Global Talent Development Corporation and Asia’s largest IT trainer, today celebrated one year of successfully running its innovativeCareers@Campus programs at SSM College, Komarapalayam.
World Chess Champion and NIIT MindChampion Viswanathan Anand applauded these programs, which aim to make students industry ready by the time they graduate. Also present on the occasion were Cavalier Dr. M S Mathivaanan, Chairman, SSM College of Engineering; Indarjith Mathivaanan, Vice-Chairman, SSM College of Engineering; J C D Prabhakar, MLA and President, All India Chess Federation; D V Sundar Vice President, International Chess Organisation and Abel Daniel, Vice President, Institutional Alliances, NIIT Ltd.
Commenting on the initiative, World Chess Champion and NIIT MindChampion Viswanathan Anand said, “I am pleased to see students of SSM College, Komarapalayam, benefit from NIIT Careers@Campus programs, which prepare students to be job ready from day one. I am confident these programs will equip the students with adequate skills required for embarking on a successful professional journey.”
NIIT’sCareers@Campus is an initiative to offer employability enhancing programs to undergraduate students in their own college campus. These programs, mapped to the college calendar, will be delivered through innovative in-campus training modules. The initiative will enhance employability of students through results driven training and will provide them an opportunity to learn from expert trainers.
In the fast evolving Indian economy, several sectors are increasingly facing the need for inducting talent through entry-level and lateral-level recruitments. According to a BCG report, by 2020, world would need 46 million workforce, whereas India will have a surplus 57 million.
Despite the huge opportunities available, India faces an acute shortage of skilled, employable talent. This skill gap is a combination of lack of technical skills as well as professional life skills. According to studies, only 25 percent of fresh engineers are employable due to lack of technical and communication skills. A joint survey by FICCI and the World Bank states that 64% of surveyed employers are dissatisfied with engineering graduates’ skills. It has therefore become a necessity to equip the graduates with employable skill sets, for meeting the industry requirements.
NIIT’s continuous engagements and placement alliances with the employer organizations ensure that the programs offered under NIIT’sCareers@Campus programs are aligned to industry requirements. Students would be imparted specialised functional skills and critical communication and personality skills, essential to building a successful career. The overall curriculum is specifically designed keeping both industry expectations and career aspirations of the students in mind.
Cavalier Dr. M S Mathivaanan, Chairman, SSM College of Engineering said, “We are pleased to partner with NIIT to bring NIIT Careers@Campus programs to our students, which will help them chart successful careers.”

For students pursuing diploma programmes, NIIT will offer placement assistance on successful completion of the programme. All students of Employability Enhancement Programmes will be offered Placement Assistance wherein they will be provided opportunities to appear in interviews via participation in Campus interviews, Job fairs etc.
Chockalingam Murugan, President, Institutional Alliances Business, NIIT Ltd. said “Careers@Campus is an initiative by NIIT to bring employability enhancing skill sets to the doorsteps of college students in campuses, to make them job-ready professionals. I am pleased to see the students of SSM College acquiring critical technical and soft skills from these programs”.
The Employability Enhancement programmes, mapped to industry requirements, are aimed at bridging the gap between academic education and industry needs. Students undertaking the programme will undergo training in critical soft skills like Communication skills, Personal development, Presentation skills etc.
During the day, Anand also played simultaneous Chess with 24 finalists of the Chess Championship organised by NIIT in Erode, an initiative to develop young minds & inculcate competitive spirit among young school & college students of the district.
Over 600 Chess enthusiasts from 80 schools and 60 colleges in Erode, participated in the Chess championship.
About SSM College, Komarapalayam
SSM College of Engineering was established in 1998 through the persistent efforts of ‘Gnanathandhai’ SSM Subramaniam, an industrial conglomerate.
SSM College of Engineering, headed by its Chairman, Cavalier’ Dr. M. S. Mathivaanan and placed in a highly industrialized zone of South India, is recognized as one of the best engineering colleges in South India. Its students get the opportunity of taking part in a noteworthy range of activities through academic courses taught by renowned professors, research and public service opportunities, and an extraordinary breadth of extracurricular activities.
About NIITCareers@Campus
NIIT’sCareers@Campus is an initiative based on feedback from industry to help students bridge the gap between education and employability.
Today, though most of the universities impart great conceptual grounding, there keeps emerging a need for employability enhancement through skill upgradation on new technologies as well as communication skills and personality development.
To help bridge the skill gap between education and employability, NIIT has taken the lead to design courses that prepare first-day, first-hour ready professionals required by the industry.Careers@Campus programs have been developed by active industry engagement. A set of special courses that deal with typical environments that students will face at their first jobs, Industry experts as guest lecturers, industry endorsed curriculum and pedagogy, are the hallmarks of these programmes.
These programmes will be delivered using a synchronous learning platform through a combination of live expert faculty, on-the-ground trainers and online learning. To deliver training, there will be an NIIT designated Industry expert faculty in the studio.
Additionally there will be NIIT facilitators in the classroom who will assist in maximizing student interaction by helping students in raising queries and encouraging them to engage in discussion.
NIITCareers@Camous is currently associated with over 100 colleges pan India, running various employability programs and training more than 30,000 students
About NIIT
NIIT Limited, a leading Global Talent Development Corporation and Asia’s premier IT trainer, offers learning and knowledge solutions across 38 countries. Leading IT journal Dataquest has conferred upon NIIT the ‘Top IT Training Company’ award successively for the past 20 years, since the inception of this category.
NIIT’s Individual Learning Business offerings include industry-endorsed programs for students seeking careers in IT – GNIIT and Edgeineers, and Global Net Plus for IT professionals. The company has introduced “India’s first cloud campus”, through its new-age GNIIT program. This offers students a higher mobility as they can access courseware using Netbooks to connect seamlessly to NIIT’s Cloud Campus network.
NIIT’s Corporate Learning Solutions offers Managed Training Services including integrated learning solutions (strategic consulting, learning design, content development, delivery, technology, assessment and learning management) to Fortune 500 companies, Universities, Technology companies, Training corporations and Publishing houses.
NIIT Yuva Jyoti, a joint venture between NIIT and NSDC, offers vocational skills training programs to enhance employability of youth across India.
NIIT has provided computer-based learning to over 15,000 government and private schools. The futuristic NIIT NGuru range of learning solutions for schools comprises Interactive Classrooms, Math Lab, IT Wizard programs and Quick School (Education Resource Planning software).
NIIT Imperia - Centre for Advanced Learning, offers Executive Learning Programs in association with leading Business schools in India, KPMG, Google India and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), using the synchronous learning platform.
NIIT Institute of Finance Banking & Insurance (IFBI), formed by NIIT with equity participation from ICICI Bank, offers programs for individuals and corporates in Banking, Financial Services and Insurance.

NIIT Institute of Process Excellence Limited, a NIIT-GENPACT venture (NIIT Uniqua), offers complete training outsourcing services to the Business Process, Knowledge and Technology Services industry to create business models that enhance productivity and lower costs.

NIIT has been ranked among the ‘Top 10 India’s Best Companies to Work for- 2012’ by Great Places to Work Institute and ‘Top 25 Best Employers in India- 2011’ by Aon Hewitt. The company has also been voted the second most trusted education brand in India by Brand Equity- Nielsen Survey 2011.
For media queries, please contact:
Prateek Chatterjee
Vice President, Corporate Communications & Marketing, NIIT Limited
Ph: (Cell) +91 9910201085, (Dir) +91 124 4293041
Email:prateek.chatterjee@niit.com
Reema Bardhan
Corporate Communications & Marketing, NIIT Limited
Ph: +91 9891267470
Email:reema.bardhan@niit.com
Visit us at:www.niit.com
Follow us on:www.twitter.com/niitltd