Thiruvananthapuram: Former UN under-secretary general Shashi Tharoor's professional training academy will open at the Technopark campus here Wednesday.

"The academy will be world class with state-of-the-art technology and a leading team of professionals who will train students and develop their English speaking skills. The duration of the course is two months and there will be just 20 students per batch. The fees will be Rs.30,000," Tharoor told reporters here.

The institute will be inaugurated Wednesday in the presence of Kerala Governor R.L. Bhatia, Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan and Education Minister M.A. Baby.

Tharoor, who is also chairman of Dubai-based Afras Projects India, and Technopark CEO R.K. Nair had inked the agreement to start the Afras Academy for Business Communications last year. The institute will focus on capacity building for young professionals.

Technopark is providing the infrastructure and has invested Rs.20 million in the academy, which will be headed by American speech pathologist and trainer Tina Parsons.

"I am not a teacher and there is no place for amateurs like me in teaching. But I will be coming to the institute often," said Tharoor.