Azim Premji varsity will start by 2012

Karnataka will have its first private university in two years. The Azim Premji University, which recently got clearance from the state government, will be operational in two years. It will be located in Bangalore.

“The Azim Premji University will become operational in 24 months,” Wipro chairman Azim Premji said while announcing the annual and fourth quarter results of his company on Friday.
“We are in the process of finalising the land and architect. It will focus on training teachers, government functionaries and officers, who will go back to rural areas to teach children in rural and semi-rural areas. Our specialisation will be in creating a pool of professional teachers to improve the quality of teaching in the country,” Premji said. “There is a huge dearth of good quality teachers in the country,” he said.

The not-for-profit university is an initiative of the Azim Premji Foundation, which would invest extensively for the project. “We will be spending on scholarship and endowment,” he said.

The foundation has tied up with five universities in the US for acquiring technology and know-how for training teachers. “We have identified teachers (from the US) from these universities, who will come here on a sabbatical to help us set up the university and prepare curriculum for training courses,” Premji said.

The foundation has taken up several educational initiatives, covering 50 million children and many teachers.