Maitra signs the MoU with IBM. (Anirban Choudhury)

Alipurduar, Feb. 10: For the first time in north Bengal, IBM signed a memorandum of understanding with a college in the Dooars for Career Education in IBM Software.

The agreement was inked with the Dooars Academy of Technology and Management (DATM) in Alipurduar. The CEIS is a four-month programme and it includes supply of IBM course curriculum and study material, IBM-led training, student certification, personality development workshops and at the end, placement assistance. The programme also includes opportunities to execute IBM-designed and guided projects leading to assessment and certification by IBM.

Students will have to pay 40 per cent of the course fee of Rs 15,000. The remaining 60 per cent will be funded by DATM.

Kushal Maitra, the secretary of DATM, the institute that offers BBA, MBA, BCA and MCA courses, said: “This is a landmark industry-academic campus event in the entire north Bengal. DATM is the first in the region to sign this kind of MoU with IBM. This will expose students to the best practices of the industry with guidance from IBM experts and study material. IBM certification of the students will empower them to address job opportunities on the domestic as well as international markets.”

IBM will conduct personality development workshops on the campus and will arrange for interviews for placements in companies. The CEIS will start on February 15. The course is also open to those who are not students of the institute. But in that case, DATM will not bear any expenses.

Currently, there are 235 students in the institute. For them, the CEIS will be a compulsory course. “DATM students will get an opportunity to interact with their counterparts from outside India,” said Maitra, hinting at IBM’s global connections.