Karnataka would offer online training to enhance the competitive ability of Kannada-speaking students for government jobs, Deputy Chief Minister C N Ashwath Narayan said on Thursday. "The Department of Collegiate and Technical Education (DCTE) has signed an agreement with online learning platform Unacademy to train Kannadiga students for administrative jobs in the government," he said.

Narayan, who also holds the Higher Education portfolio, said the training would prepare native students to apply for about 3 lakh jobs the government departments notify every year. "The aim of the programme is to hone talent of Kannadiga students through expert training for competitive exams at the state and national levels for jobs in the administrative services of the Central and state governments," he said.

Under the agreement, coaching for competitive exams will be given to 1,500 students every year for three years. "Students will be selected for training on the basis of their performance in online tests to be conducted twice a year with a 6-month gap," said Narayan.

Scholarships will also be given to students selected for the training with a free subscription to Unacademy plus."Final year students of under-graduate or post-graduate courses in state-run colleges, universities, engineering institutes and polytechnics can apply for the training programme," he added.