dbtech

DB TECH - Skilling India is the Way Forward

Education was once limited to reading and memorising certain books and then giving exams. These tests the memorising power rather than skills. But now, it is slowly and gradually acquiring a new meaning. The responsibility of overall development of a naive kid to a responsible citizen lies in the education system. For the creamy layer, education may be for a social status while for the middle class it is a way to acquire a job and sustain a living. Hence, vocational training is important in our education system.

Although the field of education has made progress in the past ten years, this less regulated area of the education sector – vocational training— seems to have lost its importance. This has led to the widening gap between the supply and demand for skilled manpower across various industries. This shortage of skills has translated directly into unemployment among an increasing number of graduates who pass out every year and are forced to be re-trained in order to become marketable.

Vocational training is used to prepare for a certain trade or craft. Decades ago, it used to refer solely to fields such as welding and automotive service, but today it can range from hand trades to retail to tourism management. Vocational training is education only in the type of trade a person wants to pursue, forgoing traditional academics.

Don Bosco Tech – Skilling India Foundation

Don Bosco Tech is the network of over 300 Don Bosco skill training centres which provides employment-linked and market-driven short duration vocational courses to the economically and socially marginalized youth across India.

Set up in 2008 by the Salesians of Don Bosco, DB Tech addresses the issues of unemployment, unemployability and lack of skilled manpower with a market-based approach that is sensitive to the socio-economic needs of marginalized youth in the age group 18-35 years.

With funding from the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, under the Swarnajayanthi Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), DB Tech aims at empowering youth from below poverty line through the Bosco Academy for Skills and Employment (BASE) project. Under this project, over   46000 underprivileged youth from 24 states have been trained in market-driven course and placed in entry level opportunities in various sectors.

The Swarnajayanthi Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) of the Ministry of Rural Development, Govt of India, functions with the sole objective of providing employment linked, market-oriented training to youngsters from below poverty line sections of the country.

Don Bosco Veedu - Manacaud

On 22/02/2013, then Health and Family Welfare Minister, Shri V. S. Sivakumar inaugurated Don Bosco Veedu Skill Training Centre, the institute that offers free employment training and placement in Hospitality Management and Business Process Outsourcing to the unemployed youth, in collaboration with Accenture, one of leading global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing companies in the world.

The centre at Manacaud, managed by Don Bosco Society, offers three-month full time courses in Hospitality Management and Marketing, for 30 students in each batch, with placement offers from Taj Group of Hotels, Hilton Group and so on. The course is for students who have the minimum educational criteria of SSLC/10^th Std pass. The age limit for admission is 18 - 35.

It is an extension of Don Bosco Nivas, shelter home at Thampanoor where the children on the street are rehabilitated with CHILDLINE and Missing Child programmes in collaboration with the Social Justice  Department.

Hailing from a backward fisherman community of Anchuthengu (Kollam), Pallavi (given name) did not have many options. Either do a computer class after +2 or get married. But she was determined to fight for her freedom. She found out about the BPO course at DB Tech Manacaud from a church announcement as part of our mobilisation in association with Trivandrum Social Service Society.

Last year Pallavi joined our centre. She brought in a few of her friends as well and soon the centre became sort of a second home for them. They enjoyed each and every activity presented to them and participated wholeheartedly. They were very concerned regarding their academics too. 

After completion of the course Pallavi was placed with Green Thoughts, a reputed BPO firm located in Trivandrum. Pallavi and her friends visit the centre once in a while and still cherish their wonderful time with us. They feel blessed to find out such an institution that has shaped their lives to new heights. Pallavi is just one among our hundred success stories.

Vision 20-22

Trivandrum has many youth who have dropped out of school and do not have a career due to lack of education or at times proper certificates. Trivandrum Don Bosco Veedu Society in collaboration with DB Tech Society and private companies have been providing short term free skill training programmes and have placed many youth into good jobs.

In association with other socially responsible institutions and individuals, Don Bosco Veedu has supported many children and youth to attain good education. Scholarships are given to students showing good academic record, belonging to financially backward families. They are granted after proper identification of the children. Many children have received support in the past several years, both monetary help and educational materials supply. Individual progress of the sponsored children is tracked and many have secured good jobs and have become financially and socially independent.

 Vocational training is a pillar of our education system but it needs to be revived. It is a great alternative to study what the market demands. It promotes education and can give a break from high dropout rate of students after high school.

Don Bosco Tech with a team of 800+ employees is presently working in 29 states with a target to impart skill based training to 2 million youngsters by 2022.