Amazon Planning to Launch Computer Science Education Programme in India

Amazon is in plans to launch its childhood-to-career programme Future Engineer in India, a job posting tips. Debuting in the US in January last year, the initiative is aimed to fund computer science classes to help students learn coding and computers. Amazon is currently hiring for a manager to lead the Amazon Future Engineer programme in India. The latest move comes nearly a year after CEO Jeff Bezos visited the country and announced the company's investment of $1 billion (roughly Rs. 7,319 crores) in the country to digitise small and medium business in the country.

The job posting, which was first reported by TechCrunch, indicates that Amazon is planning to launch the Future Engineer programme in India sometime in 2021.

“The initial research for Amazon Future Engineer in India is currently underway and we look to the chosen candidate to dive deep into operationalising the programme to what is relevant for India and the student needs,” the company said in its posting.

Although the location for the job will be Amazon's India headquarters in Bengaluru, the programme is likely to go live across the country.

Gadgets 360 has reached out to Amazon for clarity on the programme and will update this space when the company responds.

Since its launch, Amazon Future Engineer has been expanded to more than 5,000 schools and 550,000 students in the US, as per the details provided in a press release by the company.

The Amazon Future Engineer programme is touted to be aimed at educating students from “underrepresented and underserved” communities each year. It includes scholarships of $10,000 (roughly Rs. 7,32,000) that are given to 100 students each year. The company also notes that it offers the scholarship recipients a guaranteed, paid internship at its office after their first year of college.

Amazon has already committed to invest over $6.5 billion (roughly Rs. 47,586 crores) in the country, with the most recent $1 billion investment announced in January. It initially started local operations as an e-commerce firm, though the Seattle, Washington-headquartered company recently expanded its footprint in the Indian region. The company also promised earlier this year to create as many as a million new jobs in the country by 2025.

In July last year, Amazon launched an app called JEE Ready, which was recently rebranded as Amazon Academy. It is designed to help students prepare for Indian engineering test, IIT-JEE.

Similar to Amazon, companies including Google and Microsoft have long shown their interest in Indian students. Facebook earlier this year also invested in edutech startup Unacademy and recently tied up with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to host a certified training on digital safety and augmented reality for students in the country.

According to the data provided by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), there are more than 1.5 million schools and 250 million children in the country. This gives a solid reason to a company like Amazon to look at the country's education system to boost its business.

However, apart from planning to invest in the education sector, Amazon is currently working hard to expand its e-commerce business in the country. The company pumped in Rs. 700 crores into its Indian subsidiary in October to enhance sales during the festive season. It also explored new models, including home delivery of liquor, to retain its presence even during the coronavirus lockdown in the country.

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