Knowledge of IT literacy course designed by Odisha Knowledge Corporation Limited (OKCL) will be made mandatory for recruitment and promotion of Government employees.
This was decided at a high-level meeting presided by Chief Secretary JK Mohapatra in secretariat on Wednesday. Mohapatra asked the Higher Education department to submit a proposal to the Government for approval. The course, designed by OKCL and named as OS-CIT, is a certified course in information technology (IT) and a programme for universalisation of IT literacy among all sections of society including students, professionals, businessmen, women, senior citizens and Government employees.
The meeting decided that OKCL and Higher Education department will design IT literacy courses for students at secondary and higher secondary levels.
Specific arrangements will be made for teaching, learning and examination of the IT course. Award of co-branded certificates on the course should be developed through joint efforts of Council of Higher Education and Board of Secondary Education, Odisha and OKCL, official sources said after the meeting.
OKCL has also been asked to devise user-friendly modules for senior citizens so as to enable them to have contact with their family members staying away from them and facilitate their day-to-day transactions.
OKCL is a public limited company with equity participation of the Government of Odisha and Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Limited (MKCL). It has taken up e-Learning, e-Empowerment and e-Governance projects for promotion of IT and ITES in the State.
In the e-Learning process, the learner is exposed to world class real life case studies of socially useful and productive outputs.
For carrying this opportunity to more people, OKCL has already promoted 224 authorised learning centres (ALCs) in different parts of the State on PPP mode and 1379 learners have been registered till date.
OKCL Managing Director Santosh Birari said 800 more centres will be opened in 2014. The Corporation has successfully completed Gram Sabha Sashaktikaran Karyakram (GSSK) in which massive data of Gram Sabhas could be downloaded and analysed on the day after the meeting.
The meeting further decided that the premier universities of the State will be accepted as equity partners in OKCL. Meanwhile, OKCL has taken up university digitisation and CHSE computerisation programme.