By Vama Rajpal | Fundraising Manager
Employability Programme for Youth in Slums
Unemployment is one of the major problems faced by youth in India. Saath has been working with the urban slum poor since 2005 . While working with them Saath noticed that there are many youngsters who have dropped out of schools to earn livelihood. But they don’t have enough skills, so to resolve this issue Saath started employability programs, not only in Gujarat but also in Jharkhand, kalyan and Bihar.
Objectives of the Programme:
Report Duration: January 2018 – March 2018
Introduction about Programs:
The sector has been divided into formal and non-formal trainings:
1) Formal training program: Udaan
2) Informal training program: Nirman
3) Informal training program for Women in Nontraditional livelihoods: Women at Work
Udaan:
Udaan program provides livelihood training to youth from vulnerable backgrounds and give them an equal opportunity to employability. The courses selected for the programs are also a result of market research and need assessment program from the community itself. The courses that are currently offered in this program are as follows:
The entire above mentioned program is for entry level jobs. Placement assistance is also provided to the trainees.
Nirman:
Nirman program addresses the training needs of people in the informal sector. Practical and theoretical training is provided which enhance their skills and capabilities to get better incomes. The courses that are currently offered in this program are as follows:
SAATH has collaborated with American India Foundation and Ambuja Cement Foundation as they both are well known for their qualitative and effective work. They use their expertise in providing opportunity to impart training about safety standards.
Women @ Work:
Saath started new skill development and enhancement program to empower young women and focus on non-traditional job options which will have an inclusion of micro-entrepreneurship, life skills and technology components to aid them in setting up their own businesses if they choose. In the case of adolescent girls below 18 years, there will be a STEM (Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics) and Life-skills Module, through which they recreate interest in science stream also this programme, will help them in re-enrolling back to school.
Activities during the month:
1) Counselling of students: Counselling of students was done at Udaan programme’s vocational training centres of Meghaninagar and Ghodasar. Main aim of this exercise is to know students preferences pertaining to the available jobs also to counsel them to join job. Around 40 students participated in the process.
2) Employee engagement activity: Employee engagement activity was organised at Meghaninagar centre a total of 27 students participated in the activity. 8 employees from PWC took sessions on microsoft excel and Work place readiness sessions such as how to make resume and how to prepare for the interview. We have got a very positive response from the students, they find these sessions very useful and they have insisted that such sessions should be organised more frequently at the centre.
3) STEM classes for school dropout girls: At STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) classes girls learn about practical implementation of various STEM concepts. 22 girls participated in the activities where they created different models.
4) Documentation linkages: For linkages to avail documentation such as Adhaarcard, Pancard, passport etc a session was organized by our Urban Resource Center (URC) at Meghaninagar center and Ghodasar center and 25 students availed the service of Pancard, 4 Adhaar card and two opened their bank accounts.
5) Examination:Written examination of Mason batch was conducted in kalol, 23 students appeared for the examination similarly electrician batch written examination was conducted in meghaninagar where 15 students appeared for the examination.
6) Expert lecture:Anandbhai Electrician faculty of Meghaninagar took a session on earthing and 3 phase at Kalol center. A total of 19 students participated. Similarly Mr. Girishbhai, Site supervisor took a session on estimation of work and cement pricing at Kalol center. A total of 16 students participated.
7) Exposure visit to Construction site: Under Nirman programme, exposure visit to a construction site was organized in Ranip area of Ahmedabad. Students were exposed to various intricacies of Mason trades. Students also learned about how commercially on a large scale all the process are being implemented. 20 students participated in the visit.
8) Area awareness programme: Area awareness programmes were organised at Meghaninagar, Isanpur and Kalol areas. Mobilizers of the Nirman programme gave information about the skill enhancement Nirman programme and its overall benefits. Around 140 positive inquiries were generated.
9) Computer literacy sessions: As a part of the training, computer literacy sessions on Microsoft word, excel, power point were conducted at Matruchhaya center, Odhav. Around 20 girls from electrician trade participated.
Success Story
Name: Sathwara Ketan Anilbhai (Name Changed)
Home town: Kalol
Educational Qualifications: 10th pass
Profession: Mason
Ketan, lives in kalol with his family of five person. He works as a mason and is the sole earning member of the family. His father used to work as mason but has retired now. He was not interested in studies so his father decided to teach him masonry skills. So took Anil to the construction site where he started working as a helper which used to fetch him 200 per day, Slowly he learnt the skills and got promoted to worker. But worker was only fetching him 300 per day which was not sufficient to support a family of 5 people.
One day he met his friend who told him about the Nirman course and gave him the pamplet ,going through the pamphlet made him excited, as he always wanted to enhance his skills but didn’t had any alternatives. He went to the center and met the center coordinator Mananbhai. After a detailed discussion with Mananbhai, he finally decided to join the Mason course.
Talking about his experience he says “Training has changed me a lot as a person, I had a very limited knowledge pertaining to senting as I was only doing plastering and wall making work but through training I have mastered that craft also. Thanks to the theoretical and pratical training sessions I have learned various technical aspects of construction. Now I have started taking small contracts and through which I am earning more profits. Nirman’s life skill training has made me more positive towards my work. I would like to thank Nirman programme for that”.
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