Bengaluru: India's third largest software exporter Wipro has announced a $2.8 million grant to nurture excellence in science and mathematics in the United States through a multi-year fellowship programme. The programme, focussed on building leadership in these disciplines, will involve over a hundred school teachers and be conducted jointly with the Michigan State University. It will start with the public school systems of Chicago.
Wipro's announcement follows other recent announcements from Cognizant Technology Solutions and Tata Consultancy Services. Earlier this month, Cognizant announced a three year, $150,000 commitment to support university-sponsored science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education programs at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.
Teachers committed to teaching in urban schools will be identified after a rigorous selection process, the company said. Participants will be elementary or secondary school educators.
Wipro said its initiative is aligned with the US national goal to significantly improve the quality of education in the STEM subjects. "Wipro is committed to being an involved participant in its communities. This initiative seeks to develop and inspire young people to contribute to excellence in STEM education," said TK Kurien, CEO, Wipro.
Successful participants will earn a graduate certificate in STEM Teaching and Leadership and also become part of the STEM Urban Learning & Leadership Community. "There is a critical shortage of excellent math and science teachers nationwide and even more so in urban school districts," said project co-leader Sonya Gunnings-Moton, assistant dean in the College of Education, Michigan State University. "We need leaders among teachers who can build not only their own capacity to improve learning, but also the capacity of their colleagues."
Aarti Dhupelia, Chief Officer of College and Career Success at Chicago Public Schools said, "The cornerstone of providing a high quality STEM education for our students is ensuring we have exceptional math and science teachers leading the way. We are so grateful for this partnership with Wipro and Michigan State University that will have a transformational impact in our classrooms and communities."
This is the second such program that Wipro has kicked off in the past 16 months in the US. In 2012, Wipro and the University of Massachusetts, Boston (UMass Boston) jointly launched a fellowship program across 10 districts of Boston and Newark area in STEM Education, with the aim of fostering excellence. Wipro said it employs more than 10,000 professionals across 48 states in the US
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