Employment Readiness Program

About Skill Training Program - Residential Bridge Camp:

Since inception in 2007, Residential Bridge Camps have striven to provide Soft skills to Vidya Poshak Beneficiaries. This was the objective in the year 2016 also. However, there were some important changes that were made to the methodologies and some objectives were fine tuned.

The Vidya Poshak Residential Bridge camps aim to foster life skills that are not fully available in the students’ life either on campus or in their community. 

Major objectives of the camps:

• To empower students to be more successful in personal & professional life.
• To provide valuable student centered practical training.
• To instil confidence through interactive life skills workshops.
• To encourage students to learn communicative English.
• 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.

During the year 2016, a total of 12 camps were conducted covering 639 students. 

Broad details of sessions covered:

For PUC Students:

• Motivation
• Stimulating Creativity
• Study skills and Memory Techniques
• Interaction with subject experts
• Goal Setting
• Planning and Prioritization
• Newspaper articles presentation in English
• Communicative English
• Interaction with Role Models
• Leadership skills
• Time Management
• Team Building
• Adaptability
• Career Opportunities
• Student Seminars on selected topics
• Group Discussions on social and ethical issues
• Presentation of learnings through skits
• Reflections through Chart Writing
• Yoga 

For Degree students:

• Presentation Skills
• Emotion Management
• Inter personal relations
• Interaction with Role Models
• Analytical Skills Phase-1and phase -2
• Communicative English
• Yoga
• Analytical Skill Phase-2
• Aptitude problem solving
• Resume Writing
• Group Discussion
• Cracking Personal Interview
• How to do well in Job
• Corporate Etiquettes
• Reflection through Chart Writing

 Important Features of the camps:

•  All student participants get to learn leadership skills hands on by being part of different committees from day one.
• Around 65% of the participants were girls.
• The interactive sessions offer space for inquisitiveness for the students. The students are encouraged to ask questions, express their opinions and even counter resource persons logically.
• At the end of the formal sessions students get opportunity to reflect upon the day’s learning through writing charts.
• The open library maintained at the camp quenches the thirst of students for knowledge.
• There is room for the students to express their hidden talents. Many students participated could display their talents in fields such as Mono acting, singing, elocution, dance, acting, drawing, etc.
• The students take responsibility of welcoming resource persons before commencing each session and thanking them at the end of the session.
• The closing ceremony of the camp is invariably anchored by the students themselves.
• The students are encouraged to communicate in English during the camp.
• The first aid kit and other medicine are made available at the camp venue.
• The confidence levels of the student participants rise conspicuously towards the end of the camp.
• No food is allowed to be wasted.
• The students write the report of the day in teams in tandem.
• Students with special skills and talents are identified and nurtured further in an attempt to enable them to be leaders.
• Students in dire need of additional support (food, accommodation, clothing, etc.) are identified and supported to the extent possible depending on availability of funds.
• The volunteers visit camps, sometimes along with new potential volunteers. Youth volunteers visit the camp and assist camp coordinators.
• Existing donors and potential donors are invited to see the camps.

Facilities provided:

• Separate girls and boys hostel
• Food and snacks
• Bus fare to and from camp
• Daily English newspapers
• Open Library Facility

The Impact of the camps:

• The camps conducted by Vidya Poshak being entirely different from the learning and teaching styles at their colleges often attract the participating students and make them engage deep in to the sessions dragging them out of their comfort zone and thus making them participative.
• The ambience created in the camp is quite conducive for the students to acquire new skills and express their inherent potential. The motivation to excel, the courage mustered to ask questions and seek clarifications, demystified academic tips and the much needed counselling offered have all been contributing to the improved academic and extramural performance of the students.
•  The repeated theoretical and practical leadership lessons during every camp have been getting reflected in the students through increased number of occasions when the students cease to hesitate taking proactive leadership roles in real life situations.
• Interview skills Session: The students were not aware on how to write a simple resume or a job application. After attending the session the students wrote their own resumes without any mistakes. Students did not know about the different rounds of interview, interview etiquettes how to face interview and after the camp the students were confident of facing interviews.
• Aptitude skills Session: The students were not aware about competitive exams. But for these camp students knows about aptitude skills. Students were not knowing about the different topics are there in aptitude and after the camp the students were confident to solve problems in different ways. For this students knows There abilities and tips given by team to how to improve their weakness.
• Communicative English session: The most of students were come from vernacular medium and rural background so it’s difficult to understand and talk in English but it’s done by this camp. Students were not knowing about the how to introduce them and others but in the camp student did it. The student knows how to describe a person, things, routines, and places in different way in this camp.

  Innovations:

• In each camp, we are arranging sessions for the participants in accordance with their career dreams, in which they get an opportunity to interact with experts and professionals like Role models in Business sector, Company secretaries/managers, Industrial Visit, Scientists, KAS / IAS officers, etc. Tis will motivate them to set and achieve higher goals in their life.
• Vidya Poshak has been encouraging the students to serve as volunteers during the camps during their vacation / free time. As a result, for each camp two volunteers are available. (one girl and one boy) Volunteering the camp makes the students practice all the skills taught in the camp and will be a real life opportunity for them to learn event management skills.
• The camp participants have session on Yoga, which is playing a vital role in assisting the students attain mental peace, concentration and emotional balance. The students are indeed enjoying this session a lot.