In a bid to spread Information Technology (IT) education in the northern belt of the country, the HRD ministry had entrusted the IIIT-A with the responsibility of developing IT mentors and modules for technical institutions like IITs and National Institute of Sciences.

“We have already started the project and have finalised contents of 120 chapters each for web courses and video lectures. The subjects are civil engineering, computer science, electrical, electronics and communication, mechanical engineering and all common core science and humanities courses,” said IIIT-A director M D Tiwari, adding that the e-contents will be uploaded on the ministry’s educational website Sakshat. The ministry has released Rs 75 lakh for the project.

The curriculum was decided after analysing various model engineering course syllabi designed by All India Curriculum for Technical Education (AICTE), Anna University, Jawaharlal Nehru Technical University, Visvesvaraya Technical University.

According to IIIT-A authorities, the project comprises generating special contents and modules, training mentors and teachers by conducting specialised short-term courses on IT and IT-enabled services.

Experts from IIT-Madras, IIT-Kanpur, IIT-Delhi, IIIT-Allahabad and IIT-Guwahati have been roped in to develop the contents. Suggestions have also been taken from nearly 500 teachers and senior faculty members and heads of 50 institutions. Four workshops were also held in different regions, said a source.