Poverty not barrier for Education - Nurture Merit

Vidya Poshak, an NGO, has been serving the meritorious and financially disadvantaged student community since 2001.  The organization, in the last 12 years, has disbursed over Rs. 13.0 crore of financial aid to post – Class 10 students through fees, text books apart from various training programs organised for the benefit of the student community.  More than 12500 college students have been benefited across 20 districts of Karnataka and 3 districts of Maharashtra.  More details are available through our website www.vidyaposhak.org.

Theme Based Camps

Vidya Poshak students, despite being academically bright in college, have difficulties upon graduation in making a right career.  They have immense potential but a platform and environment for fostering this potential is not always available. 

Students face challenges such as language barriers, lack of aptitude skills, and lack awareness about interview related skills. There is a wide gap between what is learned in the academic system and what is really needed to be successful in starting their career. 

Vidya Poshak has come up with theme based Residential Bridge Camp curriculum for the students pursuing their Second Year and Final Year Degree courses. The whole camp would be based on the particular theme. The camp would be more practical and activity oriented instead of lectures.

In the following four themes the RBC’s are being conducted for Degree students.

Interview Readiness

Aptitude Readiness

English Language Readiness

Competitive Exams and Career Options

Unique Aspects of Camps in 2013-14 

In 2013-14 about 502 students of Vidya Poshak are studying in Final year of their degree courses. By the time they complete their respective courses they should be ready to face interviews and start their career. Vidya Poshak arranged for a 6 day Career Readiness Bridge Camps in the month of Aug & Sep

A total of seven camps were held at Shri Shankar Mutt Siddapur & Devarahubballi Dharwad between 1st Aug 2013 till 2nd Oct 2013. 

A total of 380 Vidya Poshak scholars attended the camp.  All these Vidya Poshak scholars were studying in Final year Degree Arts, Commerce and Science.  A large majority of these students hail from rural backgrounds and vernacular medium schooling.

Schedule

Day-1 : Individual Counseling by Team of experts to know the career aspirations of the students. 

Day -2 : Aptitude Preparation

Day - 3 : Aptitude Preparation

Day - 4 : Group Discussion, Resume Writing, Presentation Skills

Day - 5: Interview Preparations

Day - 6 : Mock Interviews

This group of students, no doubt has mastered their academic skills – they have been the top performers in high school and on the way to doing well in college. All the students have attend two Vidya Poshak’s RBC which  focused mainly on confidence building, study skills and academics, English, computer basics, and career awareness.

However these students were lacking the finishing touch in the “soft skills”  which needed for starting a successful career and to be able to work effectively with people, in organizations and in diverse situations.  Hence to polish  these intelligent students and make them valuable diamonds this camp was planned around an “Interview Skills” theme.

Impact of the Camp

1. 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
2. Students were not knowing about the different rounds of interview , interview etiquettes how to face interview and after the camp the students were confident of facing interviews.
3. The students can now solve different problems of Numerical Ability, Mental Ability, Quantitative Aptitude & General English which are related to Analytical Skills
4. The students now are aware about the Do’s and Don’t of Group Discussion & Tips for being successful in a group discussion.
5. After continuous practice of On the spot presentation for all the days the camp students were confident in giving the Interviews at any time.
6. The students are now aware of corporate etiquettes and the corporate culture.
7. Awareness about the Telephonic Interview Etiquette’s & Email writing etiquettes were provided for the students.

Quotes by students

Below are statements provided by students through the feedback form on the final day.

• Regarding Inteview Communication class:  “Now I am confident to go and give a an interview without any hesitation”
• “Overall experience was that camp allowed me to work in a team and become a leader which I enjoyed the most.  As we all worked together, the unity among us has increased a lot.
• “Before this class, I had lack of body language, now it has improved.”
• “I liked very much all the practical activities.  I want to learn from my mistakes.”
• I learnt how to write one resume by using different methods in correct way and I improved my resume writing technique.

Post Camp Follow-up

All the students are having access to Emails, Hence weekly two online tests have been sent to them through email. Also a blog containing all career related training materials have been created for the use of the students.  http://vpcareeroptions.blogspot.in/