Zoho Schools of Learning opens two new campuses in Tamil Nadu

The Tharuvai campus will be home to the technology and business schools and the Kumbakonam campus will begin with a school of technology.

Technology company Zoho will be opening its Zoho Schools of Learning (ZSL) in two new locations in Tamil Nadu — Tharuvai and Kumbakonam. With this move, Zoho aims to fill the skill gap by imparting practical and experiential training to young learners in Tier 2 towns of Tamil Nadu.

The Tharuvai campus will have the technology and business schools and the Kumbakonam campus will begin with a school of technology. The new campuses will begin with a batch of 15-20 students each.

Zoho Schools of Learning began in 2005 with six students and two teachers, as a substitute for college education. It offers a two-year training programme for high school graduates, which includes a one-year internship at Zoho. The program does not take a fee but provides the students with a stipend to allow them to concentrate on their studies without incurring financial pressure. Today, the program receives approximately 20,000 applications per year from across the nation. So far, ZSL has graduated over 2,000 alumni who account for over 10% of Zoho Corporation's employees.

Expressing her opinion on how this idea has been helpful to her professional life, Nivetha Ganeshan, Member Technical Staff, Zoho Desk (ZSL Batch: 2016-2018) stated: "As a daughter of a weaver, higher studies appeared economically beyond our reach. I was hesitant, considering that it would have been an additional burden on my parents' shoulders. Zoho Schools opened an unexpected door for me.". Aside from the funding, which was undoubtedly significant, the programme allowed me room to learn technical skills and build confidence as an individual. Through training, I progressively shed my shy nature and found strengths I had not known existed in me," she said.

"We began Zoho Schools of Learning with a conviction: conventional college education was not getting the students job-ready.". What started out as an experiment with a handful of students has now grown into an alternative to college for students nationwide. We are witnessing the fruit of this endeavor, as our alumni make significant contributions across different functions at Zoho — from assuming leadership roles to working on deep-tech R&D initiatives and spearheading product development," said Rajendran Dandapani, Zoho Director of Technology and President of Zoho Schools of Learning.