(MissionNewswire) With more than 1.2 billion people, India has the world’s fourth largest economy and according to UNICEF, is home to one-third of the world’s poor. Close to 217 million of India’s poor are children. Although more than 53 million people escaped poverty between 2005 and 2010, most remain vulnerable to falling back below the poverty line.

India’s youth face a lack of educational opportunities due to issues of caste, class and gender. Almost 44 percent of the workforce is illiterate and less than 10 percent of the working-age population has completed a secondary education. In addition, too many secondary school graduates do not have the knowledge and skills to compete in today’s changing job market.

According to the International Labor Organization’s Global Employment Trends 2014 Report, the unemployment rate in India has been gradually increasing since 2011 when the rate was at 3.5 percent. The rate rose to 3.6 percent in 2012 and again climbed in 2013 to 3.7 percent. The unemployment rate is expected to continue to grow in 2014, according the report.

To address the need for skills training and workforce development for India’s poor youth, Salesian missionaries have recently expanded their partnership with Yamaha Motor India Sales Pvt. Ltd. to establish a second Yamaha Training Center located at Don Bosco Technical School Maligaon in Guwahati, the largest city in the state of Assam in the northeastern part of India. The first Yamaha Training Center was inaugurated in Aug. 2014 at the Don Bosco Technical School in Kolkata, the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal.

“At present, there is a huge skills gap in the industry as it heads toward an expansion drive,” said Masaki Asano, managing director of Yamaha Motor India Sales Pvt. Ltd. “On the other hand, a large number of unskilled youth are pushed towards unemployment which is a hindrance to any nation’s development. This partnership is meant to address this very concern by providing a platform to the economically weaker and unemployed youth to obtain a job-oriented technical training in two-wheeler repair and servicing that meets industry standards.”

The Yamaha Training Centers follow the Yamaha Technical Academy’s training program which was developed in India in 2002 based upon Japan’s formal Yamaha technician training curriculum. The academy coursework provides comprehensive technical education and expertise from the Yamaha factory with hands-on diagnostic and troubleshooting skills training.

“As a recognized industry player, we shoulder the responsibility to empower the economically weaker sections of the society, especially the youth,” explained Ravinder Singh, vice president of strategy and planning at Yamaha Motor India Sales Pvt. Ltd. “We have incorporated many programs in our annual calendar to make a lasting impact on the lives of these young people by making them self-reliant. We certainly foresee recruitment opportunities for them at our own dealerships as this will help our dealers in getting quality trained manpower for their business.”

Don Bosco Technical School Maligaon helps students to find and retain employment after graduation. Resume writing assistance, interview skills training and other social development services will be provided to the students of the Yamaha Training Center as they work their way through the program.

“This is a professional venture that we are undertaking with Yamaha to give quality skills to youth in need,” says Father VM Thomas, head of the Don Bosco Institutions in Assam. “Students need access to skills training that provides real world experience within industries that are hiring. The goal is to provide the technical skills necessary and assist students in the transition from the classroom into stable long-term employment.”

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(Photo courtesy Yamaha Technical Academy India.)

Sources:

Don Bosco India – First Yamaha Technical School in the North East region at DBTech, Maligaon

International Labour Organization – Global Employment Trends 2014 Report

UNICEF – India

Yamaha Technical Academy India