GDI INFOTECH

GDI's Local Lead Center (LLC) Project for the Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Ltd.

In 2002, the Ministry of Higher and Technical Education of the Government of Maharashtra state in India, responding to the requirement for a changed education paradigm, put together a unique Public-Private-Government partnership model with the setting up of the Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Ltd. MKCL is Public Ltd. company with the Dept. of Technical Education, Govt. of Maharashtra, holding a 51% stake, while the rest is held by private shareholders.

MKCL imparts computer education in the form of a low cost, up–to-date computer literacy programme; MS-CIT, (Maharashtra State Certificate in Information Technology) as well as computer proficiency programmes (MS-ACIT series) to empower the people of Maharashtra state with the fundamentals of computing so that they are able to harness the power of IT for the betterment of their day to day life.

The MSCIT programme has had phenomenal success in Maharashtra. More than 12,00,000 students including local self government and state government employees as well as students,housewives and senior citizens have successfully completed the course. But that is a drop in the ocean considering the population of Maharashtra and MKCL and its affiliated institutions are continuing on their mission of making Maharashtra a 100% computer literate state.

These programmes are delivered through a network of 2600 MKCL Authorised Training Centers (ATCs) spread all over the state of Maharashtra, India. All ATCs have a minimum infrastructural set up of six Pentium P4 processor based PCs in LAN and internet connectivity. Even in the remotest part of the state a average of 1,50,000 learners enrol for each of the 4 MSCIT batches in the year. MKCL has recently started a Faculty Certification Programme called OnCeT or Online Certification of Trainers.

The Corporation has outsourced the ATC Establishment and Validation, the ATC Management, the Learner Admission, and the Learner Management Processes, to various Private Ltd. companies with a mandate across a specified geographical area. These companies are designated as the Local Lead Centers (LLCs). GDI Infotech Pvt Ltd is the Local Lead Center (LLC) for Thane district in Maharashtra for MKCL.

Out of the 2600 ATCs through which these programmes are delivered, 225 ATCs are in Thane district. Thane district also accounts for about 10% of the students per batch. The admission, and other logistical management of approx. 55000 learners is handled by GDI's LLC Thane Project every year.

The LLC Project has been divided into 3 activity areas; Logistics, Assessment & Certification of ATC, and Evaluation and Certification of Knowledge Resources.

The Logistics team of handles the back office and logistical operations for these 225 centers.

The Assessment & Certification team is responsible for the appraisal, assessment and certification of the operations of the ATCs. And

The Evaluation & Certification of Knowledge Resources team looks after the online examination and certification of MKCL’s Knowledge Partners, ATC Faculty, and ATC coordinators.

B.Ed. Entrance Project.

Project Outline:
Acceptance of application forms from the public, scrutiny of forms and documents, processing (data entry) of applications for admission to client’s (Govt. of Maharashtra, Dept of Higher Education) Bachelor of Education course, centralised admission process.

This process includes scrutiny as per Govt. of Maharashtra, and Supreme Court of India guidelines for various variables including caste, creed, subject, major, language etc. Online data entry, of processed applications, acceptance of fees, generation of shortlist of applicants suitable for Common Entrance Test, generation of Hall tickets for such applicants, and merit lists of successful candidates.

Ashramshala Project.

Project Outline:
Setting up training centers at government registered ashram shalas (residential schools for tribal and hilly area residents, generally rural poor and tribals, can be roughly translated as refuge schools) including visiting, inspecting, appraisal and selection and nomination of the ashram shala. Identifying the training provider MKCL's ATC network who will deliver client’s computer literacy curriculum onsite in the remote area.

Computer Education in schools

Project Outline:
Schools in Maharashtra state are to provide introduction to computer and computer literacy education to their students at government determined costs. Our subsidiary, Edify Infotech, imparts computer education to the students of the New English School, Nerul, Navi Mumbai and the New English School, Bhosari, Pune. This includes students from Stds. 1 to 10 as per varying syllabi. Edify sets up the computer laboratory, (typically a 15-30 node network of P4 processor based personal computers) appoints faculty and imparts instruction to the students as per the government specified syllabus. The Edify Nerul Branch handles 1750 students and the Bhosari, Pune, branch handles about 250-400 students each academic year. In both locations, the computer center functions as an Authorised Training Center for the MS-CIT course.