Partnership to provide skills training for 400 youth

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Tech ITI, located in Krishnanagar, West Bengal, India, has partnered with LTIMindtree Foundation for the “Skills for Dignity” project, which will provide skills training for 400 youth in West Bengal, Meghalaya, Arunachal, Mizoram and Assam. The foundation is a wing of LTIMindtree and focuses on the environment, education, empowerment, health and nutrition.

Speaking at the launch event, Father Joseph Pauria, provincial, encouraged teaching youth employable skills so that they can find dignity through employment and become self-sufficient. Deepak Prabhu Matti, from LTIMindtree, expressed the commitment of LTIMindtree and its 90,000 employees to contribute to the betterment of society through skills training.

Matti encouraged the first 40 trainees to learn skills for designing spaces for offices or homes by taking training in modular furniture and carpentry. He also highlighted that they will be able to give back to their communities with their talents and skills when they graduate and become employed.

“Salesian skills training is geared toward the most-needed employment sectors to ensure that youth are able to transition from school to a job,” said Father Timothy Ploch, interim director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Before students graduate, Salesians also provide career guidance and highlight how skill development can pave the way to a better job opportunity.”

India has the world’s fourth largest economy but more than 22% of the country lives in poverty. About 31% of the world’s multidimensionally poor children live in India, according to a report by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative.

India’s youth face a lack of educational opportunities due to issues of caste, class and gender. Almost 44% of the workforce is illiterate and less than 10% 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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Photo courtesy of Don Bosco South Asia

Don Bosco South Asia – Don Bosco Tech partners with LTI Mindtree for Skill Training

Don Bosco Tech ITI

Salesian Missions – India

World Bank – India