Tata Consulting Services (TCS), employing more than 300,000 IT consultants, is celebrating the sixth year of its goIT student technology awareness program, which tries to build early awareness of computing skills, on August 13th at Cherrywood Elementary School in San Jose.

The program has involved 7,000 students in Silicon Valley and in 10 additional US regions, a total of 35 school districts. Tata says that,

 70% of participants reported an increase of interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), and goIT schools reported a 27% increase in high school students choosing STEM majors in college.

Students involved in the program participate in computer science career awareness workshops during the school year, as well as a hands-on technical summer camp aimed at developing students’ interest in technology.

The goIT program and summer camp concludes for the year with TCS’ student robotics competition and awards ceremony.

"We need to prepare underserved groups, at-risk youth, girls, and minorities for STEM careers, and this was a key design factor while expanding the goIT program to new markets, schools and students," said TCS' Balaji Ganapathy, Head of Workforce Effectiveness, who oversees the company's Corporate Social Responsibility programs. 

TCS Expands goIT Program to 10 North American Cities to Excite and Prepare Students for STEM Careers