India– August 9, 2024 –SAWiT (South Asian Women in Tech) & GUVI announce a groundbreaking partnership to invite 16 lakhs+ women students enrolled in AICTE-affiliated institutions to participate in SAWiT.AI, the world’s largest, women-only Generative AI learning challenge, which is training 5 lakh women in Generative AI on 21 September. Student participation is free, and online and offers unrestricted access to students everywhere.
All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), under the aegis of the Department of Higher Education, is responsible for the planning, formulation, and maintenance of norms and standards in technical education across the country. SAWiT (South Asian Women in Technology), network aspires to be women’s empowerment catalyst through advancing skilling and support for 10 million/1 crore Indian women in the Generative AI, AI and automation ecosystem
The AICTE-SAWiT.AI partnership offers five immediate, tangible, and valuable benefits for women students and institutions. Firstly, it addresses the growing need for future-ready technical education by preparing students for an evolving job market through Gen AI upskilling in six Indian languages (Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali, Marathi, Hindi) and English, with all necessary learning infrastructure provided, making it easy to complete the course. Secondly, it enhances student skills and employability, fosters valuable industry connections, and positions institutions as global leaders in AI education.
Additionally, students can earn one academic credit for completing the 15-hour Gen AI course, which includes Python and Gen AI. For institutions, the integration of NSQF-aligned Gen AI courses with credit equivalence under the National Credit Framework enriches their curricula. AICTE recommends that participating institutions award one credit for course completion, thereby bolstering their academic and professional credentials. Furthermore, the partnership offers participation in the SAWiT hackathon in October 2024, providing students with the opportunity to further develop their Gen AI skills, gain recognition, and compete for valuable prizes.
Lastly, student and faculty participants are invited to join SAWiT, a women-only network that nurtures professional success and entrepreneurship. Built on Kalido’s AI-driven platform, SAWiT maximizes opportunities through peer-to-peer matching, entrepreneurship, job readiness learning pathways, and job placements at scale.
Prof. T G Sitharam, Chairman at AICTE, said, “AICTE is leading the GenAI revolution for Women across India with GUVI and it will greatly benefit from World’s Largest Women Only, Gen AI Learning Challenge SAWiT.AI. By integrating Generative AI and Python courses into our curriculum, we are enhancing their skillsets and employability in Gen AI, while also fostering valuable industry connections. This initiative is a significant step towards improving educational quality and creating equal opportunities for women in STEM.”
Anitha Natarajan, COO of GUVI, highlighted, ” Our partnership with AICTE represents a pivotal step towards advancing India’s AI capabilities. By equipping women with the latest AI technologies, we are aligning with the ‘India AI Mission’ and ‘Viksit Bharat 2047’ to ensure that women play a central role in shaping the future of AI. Our goal is to enable women to secure half of the emerging AI and automation jobs in India over the next five years, thus crafting a new narrative where Indian women lead the way in building a better, technology-driven world.”
This partnership represents a major step in democratizing access to AI education and advancing gender equality and technological innovation. Creating this vast pool of talent drives the fulfilment of India’s aspiration to be the AI capital of the world, capture the $1.3 trillion GDP opportunity and climb the economic complexity index rankings.
