Sitare Foundation's IT university a hope for underprivileged students

NEW DELHI: Sitare Foundation, a bootstrapped pan-India educational NGO, in a bid to bridge the worldwide supply-demand gap of computer science professionals, has announced the establishment of Sitare University, which will provide free world-class computer science undergraduate education to underprivileged students.

According to a statement from the NGO, the university is envisioned by some of the leading leaders of Silicon Valley, American and European universities, industry leaders and venture capitalists so that bright Indian minds will be able to avail the opportunity to get computer science and become leaders in global technology.

The curriculum of the university will be spearheaded by persons of renown in the field of academia and industry stalwarts, including Vishal Sikka, Founder Vianai and Former CEO of Infosys; Mehran Sahami, James and Ellenor Chesebrough Professor, Stanford University; Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder and CEO of Paytm; Joseph C. Ford Professor of Engineering, Department of Computer Science, Cornell University; and many other.

The university will initially begin its functions from the premises of Bhopal-based Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya (RGPV) this academic year.

As part of this MoU, it has been decided that the RGVP will provide the necessary infrastructure, but the foundation will oversee the curriculum, academics and faculty, NIE reported.

A four-year Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science with five specialized majors covering multiple emerging technologies such as AI, Human-Computer Interactions, Blockchain Technologies, Computer Security etc is offered by the university to the students.

"The world is facing a severe shortage of high-quality computer scientists. India has a large population of very bright underprivileged children who do not reach their full potential due to lack of educational resources," said Amit Singhal, Founder of Sitare Foundation and Sitare University.