Employment Readiness Program

Dear Well Wisher

During the first quarter of 2018 there were four residential skill training programs were organized by Vidya Poshak for the students studying in the degree courses. Following is the details about the same. More than 200 rural youth were benefitted during this period.

Background

The environment where the rural students were born and brought up is not making them confident to face the tough job requirements or the hardships in life. The education that many students receive focuses on memorization of facts rather than critical thinking or analytical skills.

Students, particularly those from rural don’t have awareness or access to technology and current trends in the industry. Many students lack the confidence and communication skills to succeed at interviews, much less the career guidance to know where to search for jobs and how to apply. In short, there is a wide gap between the education that students receive and the needs and expectations of industry, resulting in a decreased number of employable candidates.

Corporate Readiness Program

Purpose of the project: To Provide employability skill training and enable rural students to take up employment in entry level jobs in service sector. These jobs would enable the students to support their families to come out of clutches of poverty forever.

Main Objectives

• Help rural meritorious students to settle through gainful employment in their life and bring their families out of the clutches of economic backwardness
• To provide mentoring and required Life Skills & Job skills and make them Industry ready.
• To assist students to set and achieve desired career goals.
• To instill confidence through skill sets (IQ, EQ and SQ)
• To make them socially sensitive citizens

The Unique curriculum design of College to Corporate Readiness Program ensures holistic development of skills and attitudes in students. Keeping in mind that English is a communication tool, spoken and functional English component is embedded in every module. The goal of the curriculum is to build confidence in students such that they have requisite knowledge start a career in corporate sector or Government sector.

Unique Features

1      Activity based learning sessions

2      Constant updating and restructuring of the curriculum to meet changing industry demands.

3      Expert lead works shops

4      Offline training & resources using mobile & internet technology

5      Organizational & Leadership skills modules to help students develop organizational & leadership skills, a key component in their career.

Course Contents

1      Introduction to Life Skills

2      Communication & English Language Improvement

3      Aptitude/Analytical Skills

4      Interview Skills

5      Resume Preparation

6      Group Discussion

7      Presentation Skills

Dear Wellwisher

Following is the snapshot of the Skill training program conducted during the month of December 2017

Unique Aspects of the Vidya Poshak Camp

The Vidya Poshak  residential training camps aim to foster life skills that are not fully available in the student’s life either on campus or in their community. 

A few objectives of the camps:

• To empower students to be more successful in personnel & professional life.
• To provide valuable student centered practical training.
• To instill confidence through interactive life skills workshops.
• To encourage development of English communication.
• To promote the idea that each student can become a leader.
• To bridge the gap between the formal education and demands of meaningful career.
• To assist the students to set and achieve desired career goals.
• The above said objectives depict the overall vision of the camps.
•  Each camp has specific objectives decided prior to each camp based on the target group.

o   Average 10 hours of training and activities per day.

 Student Background:

A total of 74 Vidya Poshak students attended this camp. All the students in this camp are students of 1^{st year degree}  in Science and Commerce streams. Large majority of these students hail from rural background and   majority of them studied in vernacular medium till Class 10.

As these students are primarily from rural background and started studying in English medium at college level, the activities related to stage courage, life skills, etc. were given a large focus along with the student – focused activities like Communication skills, Presentation skills, Motivation, Team Building etc.

Brief activities about the camp:

1^st day of the Camp: All students nominated to the camp arrived at the camp venue by evening.

2^nd day of the Camp: Students assembled at 8.45am; The camp team gave the basic instructions to these students; the participants were divided into 8 groups; each group containing 9-10 members were allotted specific works to be carried out as per the instructions of the Comp Co-ordinator.

After that Mr.Umesh  C conducted a session on Motivation through some activities involving the participants.  

He told them about the personality development. He stressed that this is the starting point on the path to success which is not only long but also tough. He called upon the students to face the problems boldly and to develop a positive attitude. The participants took part in two games. By this exercise, the class leant the ways and means to develop personality and to face the situation firmly without becoming panic. 

In the next session, Mr. Umesh C dealt with another interesting as well as useful topic on motivation. This is an important tool in the hands of an achiever and that one should derive inspiration and encouragement at several things that happen around us daily. If one is committed to his goal and is capable of hard work, the success cannot remain far off. The ability to motivate as well as to get motivated makes the journey speedy and pleasant. He opined that each student should read good books and get motivated to achieve more and more. The participants were greatly benefited by his both the lectures on the opening day of the session.

3^rd day of the camp: Mr. Poorna Prajna, a veteran communicator and a keen observer of the nature told about several instances where we ignore the happenings around us daily and never bother to know the possible reason behind such happening/ activity. This lack of curiosity will kill the enthusiasm and will lead to lethargy. He asked the students to get benefited by asking ‘Why’, ‘How’, ‘When’, etc. and getting precise reply to each such question.  He further told about the secrets of success in the field of science. He also gave a brief idea about the courses which would be available after PUC. His inputs were very useful to all.

4^th day of the camp: The session was engaged by Mr. V.L.Hegde who spoke on communication skills. He gave several instances on the methodologies of improving the communication, either verbal or written. He wanted that the communication should be clear, complete, correct, concise and courteous. He stressed the need of using the language properly so that the receiver gets precise message. He opined that this skill is one of the basic ingredients to secure success in any field of activities.

5^th Day of the camp: The morning session was engaged by Mr.Ravindra Hegde. He is very well in mathematics especially in Business and accountancy. He told about the shortcut methods for solving the problems on addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, etc. and also narrated about the magic square. He guided the students to solve various mathematical problems.

6^th Day of the camp: -Mr. Umesh C began his session on Leadership and Team Work. He clearly brought out the difference between a manager and a leader. He told with several illustrations how a leader is able to take his teammates towards achievement of goal; he also told about good communications skills, critical thinking and creative thinking. Later, he narrated the difference between a team and a group. The TEAM implies that Together Everyone Achieves More. His lecture was well received by the participants. 

7^th Day of the camp: Mr. Druvaraj Melgeri dealt with various subjects like democratic set-up of India and America, the economic situations prevailing in these two big countries, the methodology to get passport, the importance of visa, the wrong notions with many persons about foreign tour, etc. He clarified several issues raised by participants and advised the students to develop eagerness to know more and more about our society and the world so that one gets boldness in case of failure; the failure leads to experience and the experience makes the man perfect. 

8^th Day of the camp: Mr. Nagaraj gave lecture on important science concepts. He gave several illustrations and how one takes things granted. Unless one develops curiosity to know why certain things happen in that way only, there cannot be real advancement. He was of  the view that  just memorizing the text book or question-answers one can’t be successful in his career. Logical thinking, developing an ability to solve problems in innovative ways, certain degree of imagination, study of latest developments, etc. are necessary for leading a successful life.

Closing ceremony was held in the evening in which all students participated enthusiastically.  

 Facilities provided:

• Separate rooms for girls and boys
• Food and snacks
• Bus fare to and fro camp
• Daily Kannada & English newspapers
• Open Library Facility