Google aims to increase Android developers through the Android Skills and Certification program

Google has been focussed on training students  to develop apps for Android. The training not only enhances a student’s skills, but is also said to increase his or her chances of employment as an app developer since the field has seen a spike in the past 2-3 years. According to Google, India will have the largest population of developers in the world by the year 2018, which is close to four million software developers. Out of these only 25 percent are currently trained to develop and build for mobile platforms, which is an issue since the majority of population in India accesses the Internet via mobile devices. In an attempt to bridge the gap, Google announced the Android Skilling Program which was first mentioned by Sundar Pichai at this year’s Google I/O . Of course boosting mobile developers is not the only motive here as the program focuses only on training students to make apps for Android. Google has been involved in training students in India since last year, but with the new announcement Google is said to be looking at training two million developers in the country over the coming three years. They are also in tune with the Government’s Skill India programme and are planning to do this under three aspects which include End-to-End Android training, Training Channels and Associate Android Developer Certification. Under end-to-end Android training, Google already offers the Android Nanodegree program in India in association with Udacity which has seen close to 11,500 students enrolling every month. Google has added the Android Developer Fundamentals course this year which is a instructor-led training program. This course will be available through public and private universities as well as training institutes under the National Skill Development Corporation of India. According to Google they have seeked out to these universities to integrate the in-person training with the cirriculum of Computer Science coursed at universities this year. The courseware and all practicals have been made available free of charge. Google has also partnered with Edureka, Koenig, Manipal Global, Simplilearn, Udacity and UpGrad who will operate as Authorized Android Training Partners in India. Apart from that the Associate Android Developer Certification, was also announced to support potential Android developer employers. It is a globally recognised certificate which can be obtained by clearing a performance based exam. This can help candidates obtain entry-level Android Developer jobs easily. The certification exam costs Rs 6,500. The initiative sounds progressive but it all leads to promoting Android development, which is exactly what Google wants, more Android developers would mean more apps which will attract more consumers to the mobile platform. There are a variety of other portals within and outside of India that offer similar courses for app development. GeniusPort, Alison and Udemy, to mention a few, are some of them that offer their own course material and certification which may or may not be as recognised as Google’s.