NSDC selects WhiteHat Jr as training partner

WhiteHat Jr, a live one-on-one online learning platform, on Monday said it has been empanelled as a training partner by the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to skill 12,500 coding trainers in three years. Through this partnership, WhiteHat Jr will contribute towards significantly increasing the talent pool of qualified coders to teach coding to children across the country, a statement said. The partnership will encourage promoting learning and upskilling of teachers for the ecosystem, it added.

Under the partnership, 12,500 coding teachers will be trained in three years that will enable teaching of coding to millions of school children, it said. NSDC, a public-private partnership organisation, is tasked with carrying out initiatives that lay emphasis on training Indian youth in market-ready skills. With the advent of Industry 4.0, the demand for skilled workers is witnessing a surge in areas like coding, automation, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), and robotics. “WhiteHat Jr was established with the vision of making every child a creator versus a consumer of technology in the digital age. By partnering with the esteemed NSDC, we will enable this vision to come to life for every child in India through creating a network of trainers in the last mile of the country,” WhiteHat Jr founder and CEO Karan Bajaj said.

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WhiteHat Jr, which was acquired by edu-tech giant Byju’s last year for USD 300 million (about Rs 2,240 crore), has over 11,000 teacher workforce conducting thousands of live coding, mathematics and music online classes daily. Cumulatively, the company has conducted more than 8.5 million classes to date. NSDC’s endeavour is to work with world-class organisations to make available their training capacities, knowledge and innovation to the ecosystem of learners in the country. We believe our partnership with WhiteHat JR will help a larger group of students acquire skill sets in emerging technologies,” NSDC Chief Strategy Officer Arun Pillai said. This will enable them to effectively participate in the fast-changing economic and social spheres of life, he added.

Since its inception in 2010, NSDC has trained more than 2.5 crore people through its partnership with over 800 training partners and more than 11,000 training centres that are spread across 700 districts in the country. NSDC has established 36 Sector Skill Councils and is implementing the government’s flagship skill development schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK), National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS), among others.