NIIT Foundation Newsletter April'2012

Employability skills for underserved youth News Letter Volume 2 April 2012 Geese are birds of valor that never leave behind one of their kind. Strong communicators, they forge ahead confident and brave, synergizing and building on each others’ strengths.

EDITORIALSustaining Social InitiativesThere are many thoughts around sustenance thathave been tried and continue to be innovatedupon. However, I want to highlight a fewperspectives that need to be leveraged more oftenand more holistically too to build sustainablemovements in the social sector:1. Inclusivity: Sustainability of social initiatives is ensured when we look at inclusivity from both So one aspect is to recognize what the ends -- for example, a model that focuses on partnerships add to us – then we can look at employability of the poor and underprivileged leveraging. For example, a partner may be just youth - works better if we can include the middle providing for space for us to operate but if we class youth and may be even the rich as look closely, we find they have a unique ability well. Earlier, I had not really thought like this - to mobilize corporates to support the was always mentally excluding the better off initiatives, or have demonstrated successful people from the initiative. But what stops us placements of students at salaries higher than from offering the services to people who can most other similar organizations. probably pay more and also value it more at times? People are already talking about reverse 3. Balance of Technology: Typical belief today innovation where innovation for the third world says using technology reduces costs of starts being valued in the developed world. It operations. My experience says slightly brings a different set of challenges to the table - different though. Almost invariably, but ones that are more addressable as well as technology adds costs in the first few years make the offering better for all. This is inclusivity and by the time it starts to become efficient – the other way round. technology changes! What I call balance of technology is to walk the middle path between2. Partnerships: Partnerships should be true to the changes in technology and changes in the real word - sharing of both risks and gains. This world. When the changes in real world are few changes the mind-set from the customer- (financial profitability), changing technology is supplier relationships that we were getting into. a good thing. On the other hand if the real For all partnerships - of course the challenge is world is evolving fast (how humans learn), (a) having partners sharing the gains and (b) sticking to old technology is a good thing. I having the partners accept the risks from the know there would be disagreements on this venture. To be able to get into a strong one but I am putting it out there for some partnership – addressing these two more thought and discussion. challenges one needs to focus on building trust by – having regular and Best wishes open lines of communication, Neeraj Agarwal sharing forward plans pro-actively, and taking the first step of sharing the gains. Why do this but? To leverage partner expertise: Leverage Partner Expertise: Partners bring some uniqueness, something special to the partnership. However, these are not always tangible and overtly stated. 2

READER’S ANGLE Why Define Indian Employ-Ability ? By Dr. Anamika Biswas, Director, Programmes Indira Gandhi National Centre For the Arts Every year, India produces almost twice the number of engineers produced by the US and has one of the world‟s largest qualified pools of technical manpower. Yet qualification fails to guarantee employ-ability, in which India lags far behind. In other words, our education system is constantly also to progress within an enterprise or expand contributing to educated un-employability. employment capability, so as to achieve one‟s potential and contribute successfully to an “Employ-ability”, a global corporate challenge enterprise‟s strategic directions.” became familiar in India in the last decade. Yet there is a general misunderstanding between the It is the need of the hour that India comes up concepts of „unemployment‟ and „unemployability‟. with a definition of her own, because she suffers Un-employment is a state where individuals have more from unemployability than educational eligibility and skills but dearth of job unemployment. A defined employability skill set opportunities. Un-employability arises when that is India specific will put the country on a available educated individuals lack the „skills‟ to growth trajectory not just in terms of execute tasks within a job. So there are vacancies productivity but also social equality. Since on one hand and qualified yet un-employable employability remains the privilege of the individuals on the other. „informed few‟, a widely broadcast, holistic definition will be a powerful tool in the hands of Interestingly, employability-skills definition the underserved and over served alike. The differs from country to country. For instance, need, of course, is to step beyond the academic American Society for Training and Development domain, encircling both education and industry (ASTD) identifies employability as personality while deciding the parameters. oriented skills like Communication-skills, Adaptability, Motivation, Teamwork, and Perhaps the most apt description is by Peter Leadership. In Malaysia, these are ethic-oriented Hawkins: “To be employed is to be at risk, to be and humanistic in nature like positive values, employable is to be secure.” leadership skills, teamwork, communicative skills, and life-long learning. Australians keep employability definition work-aligned. They describe employability skills as “skills required to gain employment or establish an enterprise, but You too can contribute articles/ stories for spreading understanding related to employability issues facing the country. Total NF volunteer hours : 44403

STUDENT SPEAK Massooma’s Dream When NIIT Foundation opened a center in Nizamuddin with Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) and offered courses in Personality Development, English, and IT, Massooma was thrilled. “I spared no efforts in pleading with my parents. I knew if they listened to Ma‟am (NF Centre Head), they would let me (study)”. After repeated center Above: Massooma on her way to visits and discussions with the NF Nizamuddin team, work Massooma‟s parents allowed her to join the course. Massooma was diligent and took full responsibility for her learning. We were elated when Massooma was selected by Café Coffee Day and Pantaloons, both huge brands. Although, this was something that she couldn‟t imagine before since her parents were not comfortable with her working outside the basti, she couldn‟t take up the jobs. What was heartening though was her zeal to find a workaround. For Massooma, a job meant more than just a salary - it was about feeling independent, about taking responsibility for her own life. So she continued to visit Above: Massooma enjoying her day at the NF center looking for local opportunities and for work ways in which she could contribute and learn. In fact, she happily volunteered to be a surveyor for her basti in the sweltering June heat. As they say, Massoomas will finally found a way. When a position for a remedial trainer opened up at the Aga Khan Foundation, Massooma was the first choice. She is now employed full time and earning every ones admiration along with a good salary. NIIT Foundation works in partnership with Aga Khan Above: Massooma interacting with Foundation in Nizamuddin students B asti for youth employability.Millions of girls like Massooma cannot afford even the subsidized employability courses.Sponsor a career for youth, a livelihood for a family and hope for the nation!Get in touch with us at: Giving@niit.com 4

PARTNER SPEAK—PLACEMENT Since the inception of NIIT Foundation (NF), our placement partners have played a crucial role in providing livelihoods to our beneficiary underserved youth. One of the reasons behind this strong connect with them has been the NF training, which looks beyond the technical aspect. Apart from English, IT, job-oriented courses in Service Industry, Accounting, Technical Support, Data Entry, Multimedia and Entrepreneurial courses like Hardware and Networking, students are also polished through activities like life skills training, industry visits, surveys taking, event organization etc. Counseling forms an essential part of this 360-degree grooming of NF students, from the time of enrolment to the time of placements. Being underprivileged means much more than just lacking monetary resources. Often, social difficulties in the lives of the underprivileged lead to the growth of deep-rooted distrust in their hearts. The vulnerability is especially evident during the first three months after placements when a youth steps out into the world for the first time. Therefore, focused and continuous counseling becomes essential. Ritu, an NF Center Head, shares - “A placed student from our center was furious that his friends referred to him as a table cleaner because of his job at a fast-food restaurant. Naturally, he wanted to resign. I had to show him that during rush hours, his manager also cleaned the tables. Thankfully, he understood and I am happy to say that last month he completed two years on that same job.” NF has been blessed with partner organizations who have given these youth a chance and taken the trouble to understand their background and rejoiced in their successes. “It has been a good experience to have candidates educated and groomed by your organization. We appreciate your efforts in honing the skills of underprivileged youth to make them disciplined and industrious!” Balpreet Kaur, Deputy Manager-HR, Costa Coffee India “I must say NIIT Yuva Star students are full of energy and enthusiasm. They work very hard and enjoy with other fellow colleagues. This makes our store the Best place to work! “ Davesh Tomar, Asst. Manager - HR , Devyani International Limited “Students from NIIT Foundation placed within our organization are no different from the mainstream candidates. They mix very well with the team and work with dedication. Their inclination towards learning and becoming better at their job is a factor that we appreciate very much.” Dinesh Kumar Jha, Operations Manager, Suman Computers Pvt. Ltd. Total Placed : 4034 Number of Partner Employers : 250 Salary Range : 6000 to 15000 Per Month The idea of inclusive society goes beyond CSR. It extends to actually making the less fortunate feel included. Your organization too can join us in this mission towards mainstreaming underprivileged India. Take the step. Write to us at Partner@niitfoundation.org5

SPECIAL MENTION Noida Deaf SocietySynergy is infectious, an evidence that all life is connected. Synergy is also visible; one could see it on thefaces of NIIT Foundation team, when Ruma Roka, head of Noida Deaf Society (NDS), hugged and thankedour team members for their all-out support to NDS. In no time, an informal gathering had turned into abrainstorming session of how NF centres could give hearing-impaired youth in their communities a betterchance at life through centre-level NDS tie-ups. Reminiscing about the beginning of NDS-NF partnership,Ruma spoke with her signature gusto," I had to do something about sustainable livelihood for the hearingimpaired youth. That is all I knew. I began training five such students in my small flat. Then a friendconnected me to NF. Our two organizations have worked with deep trust, in a win-win relationship eversince. This is how the world will change”.Since the beginning of this partnership, NF and NDS have together figured out their way around manychallenges. Collaboration has worked in the following ways:Providing volunteer expert faculty to give NDS a jumpstart: Leveraging the high visual aptitudes amonghearing impaired, NF urged the NIIT multimedia experts to support NDS students over the weekends. The graphic designing skills, involving minimal hearing requirements, meant a feasible employment option. Interestingly, one multimedia expert has been continuously mentoring NDS students regularly now for the last 5 years! Creating formal courseware: To ensure scale and consistency of content delivery, NF helped create, possibly India‟s first structured multimedia course for the hearing impaired. Multiple NDS batches have since then graduated and been placed with well-known organizations.Above: NDS Trainer teaching using sign language andstructured courseware. Providing employment: NIIT is one of the proud employers of NDS students. Leveraging connections: In the true spirit of partnership, NF and NDS are leveraging each other‟s connections and other resources for a win- win situation. The aligned NDS and NF goals of skilling and meaningful employment have become the common language that reaches the hearing impaired as well as the urban slum youth. We would encourage other organizations to exploreAbove: NDS team and students clapping in sign language. this connect. If your heart beats for the masses, let‟s meet over a cup of tea and explore our directions.As change makers join hands and extend whole-hearted support, hope swells forth for not just them, butfor the entire society, the country and finally the whole world. When building the world, synergy is, nodoubt, very reassuring.NF - NDS Impact : 417Current NF-NDS Batch : 120Number of NGO Partners : 67Total Impacted through NGO Partners : 1025 6

EVENTS Some glimpses of events at NIIT Foundation r. n in Cente ndatio D asna e by NI IT Fou 000 Coke ent th nized than 2 s‟ v isit to wc onfid fai r orga elhi. More dents tative d with ho Career ross D 50 stu rep resen ss e at ions ac nd over 7 Coke impre training. 10 loc nded a were ost ts atte rs Visito s looked p studen nt red. stude registe 2012 NGOIndia students in n Bo oth at nse Centers Foundatio ing respo earning an ov er whelm trict L Delhi.NIIT e received uals from all s for Dis lty from ibition. W nd Individ Online classe ert facuExh GOs a xp orates, N ara by efr om corp Chhindw f society. sections o a indwara D LC hindwar ony at Chh cting with Ch uation Cere m er intera Batch Grad HCL HR Manag s intervie ws s durin g campu Student 7

GET CONNECTED Twenty-year old Meena has six members in her family. Her life had taken a turn for the worse 6 years ago when her mother passed away and her father‟s right hand was crippled in an accident. Meena wanted to ease the burden on her father and brother who work as hawkers. Her financial situation did not allow her to afford the NF centre‟s subsidized fee. IOCL stepped forward to sponsor her and today she is contributing to the family expenses. There are multiple ways to connect with NIIT Foundation “Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) has sponsored 100 under-served girl students at NIIT Foundation for Service Industry Certificate Training at Delhi. Training would empower these young girls with confidence, life skills and jobs to pull them out of poverty. We appreciate the efforts of NIIT Foundation in promoting the cause of under-served girl students for an equitable society.” Sudhir Bhalla, Director (HR), IOCLMore than 20 corporate s and 200 individuals have extended merit-based and need-based scholarshipsranging from partial to 100% fee concession to NIIT Foundation students over the past 4 years. Morethan 1100 students have benefited from these scholarships.100% Sponsorships for SC/ST Students : 210100% Sponsorship for Girl Students : 100Sponsor a career for youth, a livelihood for a family and hope for the nation!Get in touch with us at: Giving@niit.com 8

ABOUT US From left: Pallavi, Alpana, Nilabh, Ayesha, Sucheta, Pooja, Smita, Vandana, Deepak, Ritu, Saquib, Intekhab Meet our Indefatigable Foot Soldiers – officially known as center managers - who toil away at the grassroots. Most have given up lucrative careers in the corporate world to serve the cause of impacting society along with NIIT Foundation. Balancing minimum resources with maximum creative impact in rural villages and urban slums, our NF foot soldiers march on, transforming limitations into success stories every day. From knocking on every slum door to networking with NGOs and corporates to coming up with innovations for greater impact and sustainability, no work is too big or too small for them. You can join our heroes by sponsoring the communities they hold responsibility for. You can start with sharing this newsletter with all your friends, as any new connection may have the possibility of bringing hope for an at-risk youth. You could also visit our centers and capture stories of personal victories accomplished, through words, photography or videography on NF initiatives, or spread the word through your media connections. NIIT Foundation (NF) is a not-for-profit education society that makes critical interventions towards upgrading the skill base and employability of the marginalized youth in urban slums and rural areas. In addition, it works with other NGOs to offer NF certification to the NGO beneficiaries.9

CENTERSNoida-51: Lavkush Market, near Post Office, main road Hoshiyarpur, Sector 51, Noida -201301, Tel:9811597208; Begumpur : Basti Vikas Kendra, Behind Begumpur Bus-stop, Malviya Nagar, Begumpur -110017, Ph. 40580305; Paharganj: 9329/1, Gali No.7, Multani Dhandha, Paharganj- 110055, Ph. 47506874,47506873; Prem Nagar : I-180, Prem Nagar II, 70Ft Road, Kirari, New Delhi -110086, Ph. 25185560;Gurgaon : Vishwas Vidyalaya, Sector 46, near Unitech Cyber Park, Gurgaon -122001, Ph. 7838177728;Mangolpuri: L-625, DDA Flats, (near Mother Dairy) Mangolpuri, Delhi Ph. 011-27918987; Sangam Vihar :Green Aravali School, I-4/35, Ratiya Marg, Sangam Vihar, New Delhi -110062, Ph. 26043709; Sunder Nagri:N-25/26, Sunder Nagri, New Delhi -110093, Ph. 22597745; Madanpur Khadar: H. No. 272, ChauhanMuhallah, Madanpur Khadar -110076, Ph. 29947891; Civil Lines: No. 2 Raj Niwas Marg, near ShahAuditorium, Civil Lines, New Delhi, Ph: 23982620; Ghaziabad: Gram Niyojan Kendra, Adhyatmik Nagar,Opp. IMS Engg. College. Dasna, Ghaziabad, Ph: 7838177728; Nizamuddin: MCP School, HazratNizamuddin Basti, Delhi -110013. Ph: 9818942279; Gharoli: C-548, Harijan Basti, Gharoli Extension -110096, Ph. 22628857; Brahmpuri : C-185/36, 1st Floor, Above MTS Office, Main Brahmpuri Road Delhi -110053, Ph. 22560344; Shastri Nagar: DD-82, Vishvakarma Colony, Nahari ka Naka, Shastri Nagar, Jaipur,Ph: 0141-2309699; Jajpur: JSL Institute of Industrial Training, Trijanga rehabilitation colony, P.O. DanagadiJajpur 755026, Ph: 07735565556; Mumbai:FSC-1,1st floor shopping complex, opposite Airport high school,New Airport Colony, (opposite Hanuman road) Airport Authority of India, Vila Parle East Mumbai- 400099,Ph: 09619619074; Hisar: JINDAL INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL TRAINING, (Formerly Stainless Skill TrainingInstitute - Prerana), 126 Green Square Market, Hisar - 125 005, Ph: 07206790140;Chhindwara DLC: NIIT District Learning Center, near FCI warehouse Seoni road, Chhindwara MadhyaPradesh- 480002, Ph: 0716 2232228, 0716 2232229; Barkuhi DLC: Barkuhi old VTC building, near SBIBarkuhi, Madhya Pradesh- 480447, Ph: 0716 1263334Project DirectorNIIT Foundation8, Balaji Estate, Kalkaji, New Delhi - 110019, IndiaEmail: niitaffirmativeaction@niit.com, Giving@niit.com,Partner@niitfoundation.orgFacebook :http://www.facebook.com/NIITAffirmativeActionOffice: +91-11-4167-5000, FAX: +91-11-4167-5178 10

NIIT Foundation Newsletter April'2012

by NIIT Foundation on Jun 27, 2012

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