Bangalore: Karnataka is mulling launch of a "trainers training programme" aimed at polishing skills of teachers for grooming students for employment in the fast growing Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and IT-enabled Services (ITeS) industry.

"We are thinking of a trainers training programme where teachers are trained to pass on skills to students and prepare them for gaining jobs in the BPO and ITeS industry," Karnataka IT Secretary K M Shivakumar said today (June 1, 2004).

He however added that the industry should also play a major role in grooming students for the industry and should not just depend on the Government.

"It should be a public private effort. Industry also has to extend support to see some kind of mechanisms are brought in for training youngsters suitable for their work," Shivakumar said.

He said the effort was to train teachers in the hinterland.

He said the Visveswarayya Technical University was aware of the shortcomings in preparing students for the industry and had already taken corrective steps in the syllabi.

STPI (Software Technology Parks of India) Director B V Naidu said efforts by the BITES (Board for IT Education Standards) for the BPO sector, which were initiated two years ago, were paying off now.