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http://www.techtree.com/techtree/jsp/article.jsp?article_id=72757&cat_id=580

Red Hat and IIT Mumbai have announced that they will be working together to support and spread open source programming skills among engineering colleges, MCA programs, and other institutions.

Through the Red Hat Scholarships Program and the new collaborative learning program, the duo intend to open-up newer avenues for Indian students to acquire the open source experience.

The Red Hat Scholarships Program 2006-07 will operate under the aegis of the eKALAVYA program set-up by the Kanwal Rekhi School of IT, IIT Mumbai. In its third year of operation, the Red Hat Scholarships program is designed to prove handy to students looking for guidance on software development projects that form part of their annual submissions.

The collaborative program set up by the two organizations is geared to allow students to sign-up online for open source projects, seek advice from mentors in the open source community, find projects they can participate in, download open source software and get information on programming standards and guidelines. The collaborative program generally aims at equipping engineering students with the necessary open source skills.

Prizes worth Rs 20 lakhs will be awarded to students and mentors participating in the program. In addition, special recognition awards including best participation from a women's team, best participation from a rural college, etc, have been instituted. The college bagging the largest number of project submissions will receive a Red Hat Academic Bundle.

Javed Tapia, president, Red Hat Indian Subcontinent, said, "The National Knowledge Commission, a premiere body constituted by the Prime Minister that advises on how India can promote excellence in the education system, has recently recommended that India must use open source software in education to meet the knowledge challenges of the 21st century. Open source will play a huge part in building India's IT infrastructure, and we have to ensure that the next generation is ready for this. The Red Hat Scholarship program's primary objective is to ensure that Indian students are familiar
with the open source philosophy, development model and software tools. We are happy to work with IIT Mumbai in this initiative."

Prof D B Phatak and Subharao M Nilekani, chair professor and head - KreSIT, IIT Mumbai, said, "Today, in several parts of India, students and teachers often struggle to keep pace with the latest developments in technology. Though talented, they lack resources, experience and exposure, and competent guidance. We are thrilled to team with Red Hat, and ensure that Indian students are exposed to open source technology."

Visit http://www.in.redhat.com/community/rhscholarship.php
for additional information.