India, Nagaland/ Bengaluru, 24^th March 2022: IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced a collaboration with the Department of School Education Nagaland to introduce the IBM STEM for Girls program in more than 250 secondary and higher secondary schools across 15 districts in the State. The curriculum will align and supplement the State's efforts towards quality education. This program will help enable more than 12,000 girls studying between 8th to 10th grade with access to digital fluency, coding skills training, 21st-century skills, including life and career skills. The collaboration is part of a three-year program between IBM and Nagaland State Government, with the QUEST Alliance and YouthNet as an implementation partner, to increase the participation of girl children and women in STEM careers. The program will also aim to empower nearly 1,400 teachers in the participating schools to engage & train students on computational thinking, STEM, and agency development for girls. Educators will use IBM SkillsBuild (skillsbuild.org), a program that includes online coursework and tools to engage with students.

Smti. Kevileno Angami, Special Secretary, Government of Nagaland, “I thank IBM for giving Nagaland this privilege. Despite the challenges in the State, you have come to partner with us. The IBM STEM for Girls program will help young learners become problem solvers. We hope that in the days to come, our children become job creators, and we nurture citizens who will be able to solve problems and think out of the box. We hope YouthNet, Quest Alliance and IBM continue the partnership for years to come.”

Sandip Patel, Managing Director, IBM India said, "With the expansion of our STEM for Girls program in Nagaland, we have increased our footprint to 12 states across India. This is a part of IBM’s ground-breaking commitment to provide 30 million people of all ages worldwide with new skills needed for the jobs of tomorrow by 2030. With these engagements our commitment is to skill students beyond metros and tap into the rich talent pool from various states and cities. Further, through this expansion and programs like IBM SkillsBuild, our focus is to help students become future-ready and be better aligned with the market shifts and industry needs. Along with the Department of School Education Nagaland, we will organize technology boot camps and offer a hands-on learning experience for school students to develop strong computational thinking, understand concepts in cognitive technologies, AI and data analysis, and the skills required for the future."

The program will also involve teachers in co-creating relevant education materials to progress computational thinking and 21st-century skills development at secondary and higher secondary school levels. The partnership will support stronger knowledge development, training in technology and help students make informed career decisions through the IBM Mentors program.

The IBM Stem for Girls program, currently running in 12 states, has successfully engaged with hundreds of thousands of students. Participating states include Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Odisha, Assam, Bihar, Uttarakhand, and Nagaland.

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