Accenture, in partnership with the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has introduced a one-year Diploma Programme in BPO, reported Ciol.

According to this five year memorandum of understanding (MoU), one million undergraduate and graduate IGNOU students from Tier I to IV cities can get formal education in BPO services like finance and accounting, human resources, corporate learning, insurance and customer contact services. Pankaj Vaish, managing director for BPO delivery network, Accenture said: 'The intention is to expand the base of people who can be hired by the industry.'

The course content will be developed by Accenture. Teachers will be trained by the company to further train IGNOU students. It will hone student’s skills, making them competent for outsourcing industry. Som Mittal, NASSCOM president feels this initiative to be very essential for sustaining the BPO growth. He said: 'This sector has potential to grow five fold to $50 billion by 2012, and skilled workforce is an integral part to achieve this goal.'

The 10+2 passed students, having IGNOU certificate course in communications skills, are eligible for this course costing around Rs 5000-7000 ($116-163). X