eGyanKendra

eGyanKendra
(Center for Life Long Learning and Skill Development)

Income Generation & Economic Empowerment Project for Unemployment Youths, Women & Differently-Able Community


Initiative of “S.E.W.A.A.”
34, Mohini Road, Dalanwala
Dehradun 248001 , Uttarakhand (India)
Tel: +91-135-2672190, 2669652 Cell: +91-9412009273
Delhi: +91-9899336955, Jaipur:+91-9351513413
Email: egyankendra@gmail.com
Join us: http://towardsdigitaluttarakhand.ning.com

BACKGROUND

A large number of youths in India are school dropouts and out of wok. In a report by CRY America, on the status of education and children in India the figure are alarming, 40 % of India’s population is below the age of 18 years that at 400 million is the world’s largest young population. By another study/report approximately 300 million young people will enter the workforce in India in next one decade.

Indian youth also need to learn 21 century skills to improve their socio-economic status and upgrade their marketability and participate in the ongoing knowledge revolution and contribute for “Bharat-Nirman” program.

In the global, knowledge driven and competitive economy, all facets of modern economy are becoming digital and knowledge dependent, therefore its challenge for every stakeholder to adopt new and market oriented education, which can creates employment and opportunities for all.

A major challenge that India faces today is to ensure employability for youth, inspire in them the flexibility to learn new and innovative skills and instill in them a strong work ethics and mindsets. Without these essential knowledge and skills, underprivileged and rural communities will remain at the bottom of the prosperity’s pyramid resulting in loss of their potential contribution to the society.

INTRODUCTION

e@Gyan-Kendras (eGK) is a knowledge driven endeavor of “SEWAA”, promoted to bridge the gap between “Learning and Earning” (employment) through flexible and accessible Vocational and Skill Development programs for rural, underprivileged and unemployed youths with special focus on women and differently-able communities through efficient, creative and participatory learning solutions.

eGK’s would provide professional development to learning community and help them to acquire flexible and accessible Lifelong Learning Skills including Digital Literacy, Problem solving skills, Entrepreneurship, Critical Thinking, Decision-Making and Collaborations Techniques.

Working on the philosophy and agenda set by UN under their Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), eGK’s work is committed towards the attainment of MDGs objectives for a Healthy, Literate, Hunger and Poverty-Free, Environmentally-Sustainable and Equitable Society.

ABOUT SEWAA

SEWAA is a not-for-profit making, non political, secular, environment conscious voluntary organization setup in July 1994 in order to address the growing problems related to 5 E’s (Education, Employment, Economy, Environment and Empowerment) of the central Himalayan region of Uttarakhand.

In order to bring benefits of cutting edge technologies to the people of rural India with an aim to improve the quality of life, create better opportunities for livelihood and offer sustainable solutions for socio-economic growth and development, SEWAA has taken various community based development initiatives at local, regional and global level. All programs are developed with the objectives to serve the common man with special focus on women, unemployed youths/children and differently able community.

ABOUT e@GYAN-KENDRA’S

eGyanKendra (eGK) is multi-stakeholders initiative of SEWAA to be setup at block/village level in partnership with local level entrepreneurs, which will help younger generation to “Learn & Earn” with Digital and Knowledge revolution understanding 21st century’s challenges. eGK will prefer to partner with existing Educational Institutes, Tele/Knowledge Center’s, NGOs/CSOs, SHGs and individual change makers across the regions.

eGK would act as regional knowledge based resources centre and keep on monitoring, conducting researches for best practices going on across the regions for employment creation and economic empowerment transformations. An expert team of supporters and volunteers is already established in South Asia, North America and Latin America to share their respective knowledge and domain..

eGK would focus on basic human needs and will use the sustainability of the community as the curriculum to create emergence in all aspects of society. The strategy is to use 21st Century Learning Tools and Skills coupled with productivity, which is student centric with hands-on experiential learning for rapid results and full capacity transfer. The process and created network will be actualized and managed by a virtual networking Hub for North India (initially) Tele-Centres, leveraging Web 2.0 applications and the ‘Immersive Internet’ to address needs in the areas of:
a) e-Learning- with specific emphasis on Information & Communication Technology (ICT) and management skills taught in the local language. Formal, Skill development and Vocational programs would be included with certification/affiliation arrangement from bodies like NIOS (National Institute of Open Schooling), IGNOU (Indira Gandhi National Open University), State Education boards etc. This is achieved by focusing on the sustainable systems and basic human needs which support the biome: food and nutrition, water, waste, health, entrepreneurship, renewable energy, ecological and cultural resilience--as the curriculum.
eGK has entered into agreement with Green-Field School Society (Dehradun based Community Schools) to offer its expertise to its students after school hours and to formally start eGK center in school campus and use schools physical resources and infrastructure for the betterment of learning community. eGK is in process to finalise more centers with other educational institutes in the region to cater to the larger part of rural population.

b) e-Entrepreneurship- Working towards transforming the mindsets of our youths from just “Job Seekers to Job Creators”, eGK would help youths with sensitization and capacity building programs/campaigns to opt for alternate path of Entrepreneurship.

With specific emphasis on helping the community to create local inventories or knowledge base and business networks through Tele/Knowledge Centres and optimum use of WWW and Internet will take place. Master trainer and motivator would provide backup support to the local level and first generation entrepreneurs to start, sustain and grow in their respective and allied business. To make it a profitable and sustainable model, basic intricacies and business orientation/sensitization programs would be organized to make future generation capable of understanding market delivery mechanism and its trends for organics growth.

c) e-Leadership- creating a leadership cadre to facilitate peer to peer learning and using ICTs as a catalyst for social change and eGK’s sustainability. An internship model is used to efficiently staff the project and develop leadership. The result is empowerment, confidence, employability and access to information to create a sustainable community capable of emerging from the constraints of the past into a knowledge based economy of the 21st Century.

LINKAGES: Linking eGKs with industry and to fulfill their demand for HR, ongoing employment scenario would be taken care in order to bridge the gap between demand and supply of skilled human resources in the region.

eGK will provide relevant skills to the unemployed youths in urban slums and rural regions for making them employable in various industries such as IT, ITeS/BPO, Retail, Hospitality, Tele-com, FMCG, Financial Services, Fashion, Infrastructure and Healthcare.

Flexible short and long terms courses would be developed and designed, keeping in mind the needs, availability, educational and geographical background of the learners under formal and open learning mode. Short term courses would include spoken English, grooming, etiquette; basic computer knowledge (Web Design, DTP, Animation, Internet and Photoshop etc.) and training of industry specific skills can be customized as per the job requirements.

ICT@eGK: Integrating ICT with conventional education system, especially in developing world, is a challenge. Given the considerable ground that needs to be covered, content and curriculum to be developed, high broadband connectivity to be established, eGK will develop a synergy for collaborating with each stakeholder.

One such initiative is taken to link non-resident Uttarakhandi’s using ICT and its various application. Visit http://towardsdigitaluttarakhand.ning.com for more information.

PARTNERSHIP APPROACH

Recognizing the potential and scope of its impact, eGK is trying to create a network partnerships with schools, colleges/Universities, CSOs and SHGs regionally and will help in capacity building programs on ICT for them as well.

All eGKs would be equipped with Broadband/Internet Connectivity, PCs/Laptops and Interactive CD Multimedia based learning modules (including practical knowledge), teaching aids and furniture etc. eGK’s would leverage technology to enhance the learning experience and deploy master trainers for its further expansion at the remotest and isolated regions. Coaching for professional Career and Counseling centers would be established to assist youths to take right step for their career and grab job opportunities for better future.

With our virtual partners based in USA, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, we have already submitted joint proposal to “Singapore Open University” for linking eGKs in the region for funds

GEOGRAPHY: eGK operations are already started in Uttarakhand, UP, Delhi and Rajasthan and in process to start its opterations in Punjab as well. Survey in Dehradun, Rishikesh, Pauri ,Tehri Distt are already done and local partners are finalized. Our target is to cover 40 out of 95 blocks of Uttarkhand by the end of this financial year .

eGK in Rajasthan: eGK has entered into understanding with national level NGO “CDC” (Centre for Development Communication) Jaipur and would be setting-up centres in rural Rajasthan with local village level entrepreneurs.

FUTURE PLANS: With initial roll out in Uttarakhand, UP and Rajasthan, eGK will link these centres using ICT for sharing knowledge and making its multi-culture, multi region and expand in other state for the betterment of Rural Indian.

Support from state Govt., Educational Institutes and Corporate India is already sought under their CSR and philanthropic activities.

ELEMENTS FOR SUCCESS

a. Preparing Rural Entrepreneurs to take-up the challenges for change.
b. Transforming youths to become “Job Provider not as Job Seeker”
c. Preparing Master Trainer and Motivator for local community.
d. Developing conducive atmosphere for Technological and progressive growth.
e. Develop easy to use Teaching and Learning models for local Industry specific)
f. Developing locally relevant and globally accepted content in local language.
g. Regular Evaluation, Monitoring and Research for better results.
h. Strategic Developmental partnership at regional and local levels.

APPLICATION AREAS AND LINKAGES

a. Bridging the Gap between “Learning and Earning”
b. Development of Vocational and Lifelong learning Skills/Courses
c. Establishment of “Community Learning and Knowledge Centres)
d. Integration of ICT at planning, execution and management level.
e. Implement ICT4D applications for Persons with Disabilities.
f. Act as Incubation Center for Micro/Macro Level Knowledge Based Enterprises
g. Establishment of Online Digital Educational/Knowledge Resources, Assessment and Evaluation system.
h. Offering Free Webspace, DB, Best Practices/Case studies and learning contents to Network Partners.
i. Career Counseling and Employment Guidance
j. Student and Teachers/Trainer Exchange Program at regional and Global Level
k. Setting up Language LABs and Libraries in Rural regions.
l. Online/Offline Volunteerism and Consulting.
m. Setup Social Venture Capital (SVC) Funds

eGK has embarked on pragmatic plans for meeting the challenges in bringing the benefits of quality ICT Technologies in the areas of education, health, employment, and livelihood, empowerment for under-privileged and rural community with special focus on unemployed youths, women and person with disabilities. It shares the thoughts that true India and dream of “Bharat Nirman” can only be achieved by empowering and Connecting India and Indians at grassroots level forming collaborative efforts with a heterogeneous mix of stake holders.

Understanding the magnitude and intensity of research, knowledge and expertise required for developing eGK and to have viable and sustainable campaign, we seeks support from like minded individuals, professionals,, consultants, community workers, researchers, volunteers and organizations (GO and NGOs) to help us to build socially and economically empowered India for inclusive growth.

SUSTAINABILITY:

With more and more eGKs coming up, students/learner joining-in, financial sustainability increases from month to month and year to year with less reliance on external funding and resources. eGK’s Research and Consulting division would also generate revenue to give support to our smooth functioning.

Environmental Sustainability and Responsibility: Understanding the responsibility, eGK would setup al its center with Euro Standard to save energy, use of renewable energy sources, and Watch Carbon footprint of our network partners.

DONATION/SUPPORT :

As developmental work and change can not take place in isolation, therefore we seek financial funding, knowledge and intellectual support, guidance and networking with all like minded organizations (GO and NGOs/CSOs), Corporate/Pvt. Sector (under their CSR programs) professionals and individuals to come forward to help us to help our unemployed youths, women and differently-able community to learn life long development skills through “e@Gyan-Kendra’s”.
Contact Persons:

Mr. Anil Jaggi, ICT4D Consultant and Coordinator
Email: jaggianil@gmail.com,
Skype: aniljay111 Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/anilj

Delhi: Mr. Swaran Singh Cell: +91-9899336955
Jaipur: Dr. Vivek Agarwal Cell: +91-9351513413
USA: Mr. Jan Herder Cell: +802-760 0812

ADVISORY BOARD

1. Mr. Niranjan Meegammana, Tele Centre Expert, Sri-Lanka
2. Mr. Shahid Uddin Akbar, Bangladesh
3. Ms. Jaya Chittor, ICT Consultant, Writer and Activist, India
4. Dr. M. A. Khalid, Environmental Scientist, India
5. Dr. Tanya J, Phd Candidate, Australia
6. Mr. Ashok Arora, Writer and Advocate (Supreme Court of India)
7. Ms. Preeti Misra, Development Consultant, Mumbai
8. Ms. Shipra Sharma, Gender Expert, India
9. Mr. Yovesh Suri, HR Executive, New Delhi
10. Mr. S.P. Singh, Sr. Journalist and Entrepreneur, Mauritius

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