YOUTH ASSIST PROGRESS REPORT : MAR 07 – SEPT 07

1. PROJECT BACKGROUND:
Non-formal Vocational Training has been one of the prime activities of “ASSIST” as it paves a way for the next generation to enter into the new way of life and thus changes the total living conditions of the respective families and the communities as well. It strongly believes that today’s adolescents are tomorrow’s citizens of India. In the target communities of ASSIST much similar to rural areas of India there is still a strong distress and despair to continue their lives as their ancestors live. This leads the family to continue to stay below the poverty line. In order to bring them out of their negative mindset ASSIST has created a sense of hope, confidence and courage among the parents as well the children. However a substantial result has brought within the communities where the children from the age group of 15 years to 20 years are living idle without any education or appropriate livelihood opportunity.
With this conceptual framework, ASSIST has been extending vocational training opportunities for youth from its target areas over the years and its aims and objectives are specified as follows:

• To create confidence and positive attitude among the idle adolescents.
• To bring out the hidden skills and talents within the adolescents by giving the training in a particular skill which could be taken as a vocation by that individual.
• To develop social manners as well as discipline.
• To enable them to stand on their own and attain self-dignity and pride in the society.
• Ultimately to have a sustainable living standards.
  

Erach and Roshan Sadri Foundation, United Kingdom, was kind to consider the request of “ASSIST” to impart training to 80 rural youth and enable them to establish their own units or obtain better employment opportunities in the society.

2. SKILLS IMPARTED AND YOUTH COVERED DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD:
The present report covers the initial period of seven months starting from March 2007 till September 2007. By the end of September 2007, ASSIST was able to cover 52 adolescents ( boys and girls) in the different skills as mentioned below. Training was imparted in two places: one is Chilakaluripet, where ASSIST head office is located with all the necessary infrastructure facilities to impart training in computer appliances; second one is Rajupalem, 15 kms from the head office of ASSIST, where the training is imparted in various skills.

3. ADDITIONAL COMPONENTS:
In addition to the skill training, the youth are exposed to the various other components which are necessary for their development in the society as a whole. Mere skill training has not yielded better results from our experience and hence these additional components were added to the vocational training curriculum.
Communication skills and Spoken English:
As per today’s situation, we are in a great need of the speaking in English and also with the communication skills along with the course. Fortunately ASSIST have identified this need and also focusing on this education also. For the computer trainees, there is also coaching among these aspects so that it may fetch the jobs in more convenient way. The trainees of the above batch are now in a position to communicate in English, which is not before. ASSIST has a privilege of having interns from Italy and USA, who have taken up these classes during this reporting period. Ms. Agnese Spiazzi, an Italian, who is studying post-graduation studies in London at present, has spent three months during this period and taken special care in teaching English to this batch of trainees.

Sports:
Apart from the studies the students will be relaxed with the sports daily in the evening after the day session completes like Volley ball, Badminton, Kho – kho etc which will build up them physically as well as mentally. These trainees also take the part in the field work like gardening and in the plantation works at the evenings. This is because that one can gain the importance of the tree plantation as well as the responsibility feeling of the place they are living as their own.

Interaction with Field workers and Cultural team:
Every month the trainees have the interaction with the field staff like Area Co-ordinators, Technical Co-ordinators to make them to know the new and good topics to be learnt and also to build rapport with the field staff. This will be more helpful for them to get guidance about the skill implementation after completion of the course. They also have interactions with cultural team about the awareness generation on various issues like Child labour, about women empowerment, HIV/ AIDS that are now existing in the target communities and also the recreation programmes as well.

4. PROJECT MONITORING AND EVALUATION:
The above said is all the process of the training within the six months. After completion of the syllabus the Final Examination will be conducted with the Government Affiliated Institutes like JSS (Jana Sikshana Samsthan), the Ministry of Human Resource Development Sector of the Central Govt, theoretically and practically as well. Later on, the trainees will evaluated personally taking their views and feelings into consideration which will help for further modifications with in the course on the aspects like facilities providing, style of teaching, accommodation etc. Later on these children will be honoured by issuing Assigned Certificate, which will be more useful for their future either for getting the job from outside or for establishing the work unit on their own. The trained adolescents will be also provided with the equipment, related to the training they got like sewing machines, motor winding equipment etc under the income generation programme by the ASSIST. The regular monitoring will be done about the trainees in the field level until they utilise the skill to a maximum extent by the Area Coordinators, Instructors and also by the field level staff. Centrally there will be a technical guidance, which will help them to go in the advanced methods and techniques.

5. PROJECT OUTPUTS AND IMPACT:

• Total 52 trainees i.e. 16 male and 36 female have got trained in various skills during the period.
• Out of them three trainees have established their own unit. Nine people have joined for apprentice as trainees in the Private hospitals and also in the motor repair shops Two of them were going for further studies. Finally, male two trainees are in search for their employment.
• In the same way, 16 female trainees have established the units like tailoring (13) at their house itself and three as computer operators. 6 girls are doing the DTP Course as the apprentice and four trainees are continuing their graduation, which was stopped before. At present 10 female trainees are in exploring their livelihood possibilities.
• Average income of the people established their own units or jobs is about Rs. 1800/- Previously some of these trainees used to go as daily waged labourers and some of them used to be idle at home. But now they are economically liberalised and they are living on their own with a lot of confident. These qualified trainees are also encouraging the other adolescents from their communities to join in these training where they have got benefited.