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INDIA: Don Bosco Technical Institute develops skills training partnership with Schaeffler Technologies

(MissionNewswire) Rasquinha Don Bosco Technical Institute at Chakan and Schaeffler Technologies, a manufacturer of rolling element bearings for automotive, aerospace and industrial uses, have formed a partnership to launch vocational training courses for youth, according to the Indian Express. The training will be given to youth under the Schaeffler Technical Enhancement Program (STEP).

STEP will empower students with technical skills with the goal of helping them to be employable and self-reliant. Schaeffler has set up the skill training center with state-of-the-art pneumatic, hydraulic and simulation machines to offer students courses in CNC machine programming.

The Don Bosco Technical Institute was built five years ago on one and a half acres of land at Waki, Khurd, near Chakan. The institute consists of a building with a shop floor area, classrooms for teaching and a computer lab. It provides basic skills training in welding, CNC machining and metal forming. Most of the students who attend the institute are school dropouts and tribal youth from around the Chakan area.

“The students attending skills training classes are from families and communities that have been marginalized and have very few opportunities for education and job advancement,” says Father Mark Hyde, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Salesian education aims to open doors for these individuals and help them gain the job skills needed to find work in the local economy and be able to support their families and give back to their communities.”

Salesian programs across India are primarily focused on education. Salesian primary and secondary education in the country helps youth prepare for later technical, vocational or university study. Programs also help to support poor youth and their families meet basic needs of shelter, proper nutrition and medical care in order for students to engage in their education and have hope for the future.

Access to professional training and workforce development services is highly valued by youth in India. India, which is home to 1.34 billion people (18 percent of the world’s population), will have overtaken China as the world’s most populous country by 2024, according to the World Economic Forum. While India has the world’s largest youth population, the country has yet to capitalize leaving some 30 percent of this population not in employment, education or training.

India has the world’s fourth largest economy but more than 22 percent of the country lives in poverty. About 31 percent of the world’s multidimensionally poor children live in India, according to a new report by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative. A multidimensionally poor child is one who lacks at least one-third of ten indicators, grouped into three dimensions of poverty: health, education and standard of living.

India’s youth also 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, many secondary school graduates do not have the knowledge and skills to compete in today’s changing job market.

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Sources:

Indian Express – Pune: Vocational course for economically disadvantaged

The Hindu – India has 31% of world’s poor kids: report

World Economic Forum – 8 things you need to know about India’s economy