Search engine giant Google on Monday announced the launch of a program to offer Android developer Nanodegrees in India in partnership with Online computer programming educator Udacity.
India has 3 million software developers and is one of its fastest growing countries for student engagement. It has the potential to become the number one developer population by 2018, with 4 million developers.
“While India has millions of software developers, we still lag behind in creating world-class apps,” Google India managing director Rajan Anandan told reporters in India’s IT hub of Bangalore.
“Only two percent of apps built in India feature in the top 1,000 apps globally and our goal is to raise this to 10 percent in next three years,” added Mr. Anandan.
Aim of Udacity Android Nanodegree program:
The Android developer Nanodegree program is an education credential that is designed to help developers learn new skills and advance their careers in a few months from anywhere on any device at their own pace.
The Udacity Android Nanodegree program comprises of courses developed and taught by expert Google instructors from the Google Developer Relations team and will include project reviews, mentorship and career services from Udacity.
How much it Cost?
All seven nanodegree programs — front-end Web developer, data analyst, iOS developer, intro to programming, Android developer, full stack developer and tech entrepreneur will be offered in India.
The degrees will cost 9,800 rupees ($148) a month, which is about $50 less than the price in the United States of $200 per month. But on completion of the course, the students will get 50% of tuition costs back.
Scholarships by Tata Trust:
Udacity is launching this program with help from Google and Tata Trusts. It will offer 1,000 scholarships for the Android nano degree program out of which 500 from Tata Trusts.
Google is also hosting a job fair early next year in India, and all Android nano degree graduates will be invited to attend this job fair.