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.”

###

(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

The post INDIA: Salesians Expand Partnership Opening Second Yamaha Training Center at Don Bosco Technical School first appeared on MissionNewswire.

A recent survey was conducted as a collaboration between the Salesian-run Snehalaya Center for Child Rights, the New Delhi-based Don Bosco National Forum for the Young at Risk and the Mumbai-based Don Bosco Research Center to assess the number of youth living on the streets in the northeastern city of Guwahati. The survey covered six zones of the city, including 60 municipal wards and found there were 5,534 street youth living within the city.

A majority of the youth surveyed were 12 to 17 years old, more than 80 percent being boys and close to 20 percent, girls. Survey results found that 52 percent of the youth live in the city’s slums while close to 22 percent live on the streets. Some of the remaining youth have made their homes on railway platforms or under bridges.

Also surveyed were the locations the youth had migrated to Guwahati from. Close to 60 percent came from other areas within the state of Assam, 31 percent came from the region of Bengal and close to 7 percent came from the state of Bihar and other less populated areas.

“We have seen Guwahati grow tremendously with the spread of high-rises, shopping centers and star hotels,” says Father VM Thomas, founder and director of Don Bosco Institute Guwahati in a recent Times of India article. “But the study highlights the dimension of poverty in the city powerfully. The issue of street children without access to school, and even basic human rights, is a matter of serious concern. This has exposed the flip side of growth.”

The Salesians in Guwahati are looking to expand the work they do for street youth in response to the survey results. It is anticipated that 50 additional centers will be opened in different parts of the city throughout the next two years with the goal of offering services and education to street youth.

One of the many successful Salesian programs in the area is the Snehalaya Center for Child Rights which operates five centers for children and women in distress across Guwahati. More than 200 youth receive services at the centers where they are given food, clothing, shelter and rehabilitation counseling. Education is also available for children of all ages with older youth having access to vocational training and workforce development services. The goal is to help youth receive an education and the skills training necessary to find work and live independently.

“The Salesians at the Snehalaya Centers are working hard to rehabilitate street children and restore their childhoods,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Many take for granted things like having a safe place to sleep, enough food to eat and access to medical care. The Salesians recognize how critical meeting these needs are before youth can focus on education.”

Snehalaya Center for Child Rights also offers non-residential programs including primary education centers, day-care centers, an assistance booth at the railway station and advocacy programs for child rights. The Center continues to grow and diversify its programs to meet the emerging needs of the street youth it serves.

“Salesians are making steady progress in the fight against poverty for youth in India, but there is so much more to be done. As long as children face unspeakable hardships, Salesians will be there to offer shelter, education and other supports in the hopes of providing a brighter future,” adds Fr. Hyde.

###

Snehalaya Center for Child Rights

Times of India – On the road: No home to call their own

World Bank – India

The post INDIA: Salesian Program Provides Hope and Education for Street Youth first appeared on MissionNewswire.