Girls and boys from streets and from households with limited means are learning basic computer and communication skills that could help them find work.
An NGO has opened training centres and screened about 50 poor students in four locations. The studentsare being taught the fundamentals of computers — Word, Excel, PowerPoint presentations and use of the internet.
Before starting, Calcutta Social Project (CSP) had approached the young girls and boys to understand their career goals. But the youngsters went blank, failing to respond, a volunteer said.
Most of them are first-generation learners and have completed Class X or XII. They neither had any goal in life nor the means to realise one, said CSP head Arjun Dutta, who spoke to the boys and girls individually.
“I want to do a job,” is what many of them said. But nothing more.
Unlike their parents, the youngsters have studied till Class X or XII but the opportunities remained elusive for them because of lack of focus and awareness.
The coursework in school does not train them in vocational skills or digital awareness and they remain “incompetent,” Dutta said.
As part of the communication course run by the NGO, the students have to attend spoken English classes. The students cannot pick and choose, said a teacher.
“We will train them to enable them to work,” said Dutta. “When even after passing Class X or XII they are unable to do anything better than their parents, it leads to despair and disappointment.”
He said Ujjivan Small Finance Bank has donated 30 desktop computers to the organisation, which helped them initiate the project.
The centres run by the NGO will also act as advisory and guidance centres where the students will be counselled on career options according to their aptitudes, abilities and interests. “There are courses and programmes which can help a student from below-average academic background to acquire skills that can ensure a decent livelihood. It will help poor children whose career avenues have shut down because of their below-average academic marks or because they dropped out after Class X or XII,” said Dutta.
The CSP will organise exhibitions on career options like hospital management, conducting pathological tests at doorstep or working as a beautician.