Pre-vocational Digital Content
The poor quality of formal education and the belief that vocational training provides practical and immediate marketable skills convince parents to send their children to acquire vocational skills at an early age. However, the lack of information regarding available jobs in the market and the limited availability of good vocational training make it difficult even for those enrolled in such programs to escape the cycle of low income jobs and poverty.
The availability and effective use of educational technology is of critical importance in improving the quality and relevance of learning. Furthermore, the rapid development and spread of affordable technologies offer the opportunity to reach new segments of educationally under-served youth and provide them with high-quality educational content. At the same time, it is important that these technologies are appropriate, pedagogically sound and cost-effective.
Hence, QUEST Alliance and CAP Foundation with support from Alcatel Lucent Foundation designed and implemented a computer assisted learning model to provide life skills education, career exploration, pre-vocational and entry level employability skills to youth. Based on the market scan, the skills training was provided in Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES), Customer Relations and Sales and Hospitality sectors.
Additionally, there was also a felt need to address the challenges in the pre vocational spectrum. QUEST Alliance supported CAP foundation in the identification and development of career exploration modules integrated with academic subjects for in-school programme. Twenty academic concepts were identified from Social Studies, General Science, Mathematics and English for integration that would lend themselves to digitization leading to better understanding for students in classes 6, 7, 8 and 9. These contents were used to orient and educate adolescents from government schools and CAP Teen Channel Centres.
• The focus was on Life skills & Career exploration
• The CBT (Computer based Training) played a supplemental role and support the teachers
• CBT aim to reinforce the concept to the end users i.e., students
QUEST Alliance provided technical assistance in the areas of instructional design and content development. In the long run, this project will help in linking education to employability and provide career counseling advice to the disadvantaged youth and will help them in finishing school. These courses culminate in either job placement or enrollment into an advanced education program.
Facts about the programme
Beneficiaries
• This project was piloted in 13 pre-vocational and vocational skills training centers based on the Teen Channel (pre vocational training) and ESTP (Employment Skills Training Program) Model.
• During Project period, 4,545 youth aged 12-21 got trained on life skills education, career exploration and employability skills. This includes 990 (Boys = 398, Girls= 592) adolescents of Teen channel (in-school and out of school) benefited through the digitized prevocational content and 3,555 youths trained in the employability training centres (Male =1730 and Female =1825) on various vocational skills and life skills.
• 48 trainers and teachers were trained to use prevocational content and imparting vocational training skills in 13 vocational training centres.
Locations
• Mumbai ( Maharasthara)
• Hyderabad ( Andhra Pradesh)
Partners involved
• Implementing Partner: CAP Foundation
• Funding Partners: Alcatel Lucent Foundation and IYF
QUEST's Technical Contribution
QUEST Alliance provided technical assistance in the areas of instructional design and content development.
Current status and outlook
QUEST Alliance is exploring various ways to integrate, prevocational digital content to its existing programme on youth employability which will help in linking education to employability and provide career counseling advice to the disadvantaged youth and will also help them in finishing school. These courses culminate in either job placement or enrollment into an advanced education program.
