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 Labour 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 skilled labor for the country’s agricultural economy, the Don Bosco College of Agriculture in Chennai was inaugurated this October as the first Catholic College of Agriculture in India. Agricultural training on the 250-acre campus started over six decades ago when a group of Salesians started a small agricultural school to train rural youth in the basics of agriculture. Later, the school became an institute of agriculture offering two-year diplomas. With its recent certification as a college, the Don Bosco College of Agriculture offers undergraduate courses in agriculture and related fields and is now affiliated with the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University which has been rated as the best agricultural university in the country by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. Sixty students began their studies at the new college this fall semester.

“Investing in agriculture education is vital to developing countries,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Teaching farmers innovative techniques to increase the production and sale of their products is essential not only to overcome hunger and poverty, but also to ensure overall economic growth for surrounding villages and cities.”

The college’s main focus is increasing the skill level of poor rural youth to make them employable. Although India ranks second in the world for farm output and its agriculture and allied fields account for 50 percent of the total workforce in the country, there remains a large percentage of agricultural workers who are unskilled in modern techniques which results in low productivity. Students at the college will learn new skills in agriculture and animal husbandry, horticulture and fruit growing and breeding cattle and sheep.

“Salesians have been working in India to provide educational opportunities to poor youth for many years,” adds Fr. Hyde. “Salesian technical and agricultural programs and other services educate youth and train them in the necessary skills to enhance their livelihoods and break the cycle of poverty.”

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PHOTO: Rudra Narayan Mitra / Shutterstock.com

Sources:

Don Bosco India – First Catholic College of Agriculture in India Opened

International Labour Organization – Global Employment Trends 2014 Report

Human Development Report 2013

UNICEF – India

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According to the International Labour 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. Having risen to 3.6 percent in 2012 and 3.7 percent in 2013, the rate is expected to continue to grow in 2014, according to the report.

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.

To address the need for skills training and workforce development for India’s poor youth, Salesians in the country recently opened the Don Bosco Social and Technical Institute at Tezpur which is located in the Sonitpur district in the state of Assam in northeastern India.

The new institute will offer courses in subjects such as computers, hospitality, tourism and leadership, among others. Programs will train students in skills needed in employment sectors where steady work is available. Through workforce development initiatives such as assistance with resume writing and interviewing skills, the institute hopes to help students find and retain stable employment upon graduation.

Focusing not only on formal education and training, but also on assisting youth in overcoming personal challenges, the institute strives to give students hope for a stable future.

“We are confronted with the situation of social exclusion and unemployment and its associated negative consequences such as rebellion, insurgency, violence and addictions in this part of Assam,” says Father V.M. Thomas, Salesian provincial of Guwahati in the state of Assam.

To combat the social exclusion many youth have faced in the past, additional Salesian initiatives at the institute will focus on individual and group counseling, conflict management, team-building dynamics and life-skills. The institute is committed to working with marginalized youth to empower them to help shape their own futures.

“Other similar Salesian technical institutes in India have been very successful,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “India has a growing economy and for poor youth to be successful, they need access to training and help finding and retaining employment. This new institute will accomplish both.”

Salesians in India plan to continue to expand their programming for poor youth in the country throughout this year and next. Three more Salesian technical institutes are scheduled to be opened in the Guwahati province in Assam within the next year.

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Sources:

Don Bosco India – Guwahati Salesians launch new strategy for skilling youth

International Labour Organization – Global Employment Trends 2014 Report

UNICEF – India

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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 Labour 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 at the Don Bosco Technical School in Kolkata, the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, have formed a partnership with Yamaha Motor India Sales Pvt Ltd. The result of the newly formed partnership is the development of the first Yamaha Training Center at the Don Bosco Technical School.

The new Yamaha Training Center will follow Yamaha’s Technical Academy training program which was developed in India in 2002 from 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.

Yamaha has a progressive certification training program with students graduating at beginner levels and working their way up through silver certification. Students who successfully complete the course at Don Bosco Technical School will graduate with a silver level certificate from India’s Yamaha Technical Academy.

“Technical skills training is critical to further developing India’s workforce,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “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.”

Don Bosco Technical School will help students to find and retain employment after graduation. Resume writing assistance, interview skill training and other social development services will be provided to the students as they work their way through the program.

The partnership is a win-win for both the Salesians and Yamaha. India’s poor unskilled youth are often pushed towards unemployment forcing them to remain in a cycle of poverty and hindering India’s overall economic development.

“Yamaha’s partnership with Don Bosco is meant to address this very concern by providing a platform to the economically weaker and unemployed youth to obtain job-oriented technical training in two-wheeler repair and servicing that meets industry standards,” said Mr. Masaki Asano, managing director of Yamaha Motor India Sales Pvt. Ltd.

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Sources

Don Bosco India – Don Bosco and Yamaha Motor India join hands to help under privileged youth

International Labour Organization – Global Employment Trends 2014 Report

UNICEF – India

Yamaha Technical Academy India

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