IBM expands ‘STEM For Girls’ program in Nagaland

IBM Corp. on Thursday announced a collaboration with the Department of School Education Nagaland to introduce the ‘IBM STEM for Girls’ program in more than 250 secondary and higher secondary schools across 15 districts of the northeastern state.

The curriculum will align and supplement the state's efforts towards quality education.

This program will help enable more than 12,000 girls studying between 8th to 10th grade with access to digital fluency, coding skills training, 21st-century skills, including life and career skills, IBM said.

The collaboration is part of a three-year program between IBM and Nagaland state government to increase the participation of girl children and women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) careers.

The program will also aim to empower nearly 1,400 teachers in the participating schools to engage and train students on computational thinking, STEM, and agency development for girls. Educators will use IBM SkillsBuild (skillsbuild.org), a program that includes online coursework and tools to engage with students.

"With the expansion of our STEM for Girls program in Nagaland, we have increased our footprint to 12 states across India. This is a part of IBM’s ground-breaking commitment to provide 30 million people of all ages worldwide with new skills needed for the jobs of tomorrow by 2030. With these engagements our commitment is to skill students beyond metros and tap into the rich talent pool from various states and cities,” said Sandip Patel, managing director, IBM India.

The program will also involve teachers in co-creating relevant education materials to progress computational thinking and 21st-century skills development at secondary and higher secondary school levels. The partnership will support stronger knowledge development, training in technology and help students make informed career decisions through the IBM Mentors program.

The IBM Stem for Girls program is currently running in 12 Indian states including Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Odisha, Assam, Bihar, Uttarakhand, and Nagaland.