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Author: Smile Editorial Team

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Insights

Child for Child: Bringing an unequal world together

National Credits Framework changes the way we think about Education
National Credits Framework changes the way we think about Education

The gap between rich and poor, those who have and those who do not, is growing each day. There are a number of independent studies that highlight that rich are becoming richer and poor, even poorer. Smile Foundation’s Child For Child (CFC) initiative seeks to change the same and is committed to creating value-based learning opportunities for children from the privileged section of the society.

One does not have to look at the data or numbers to understand this. All that we need to do is look around ourselves. On the one hand, there is a family of four members living in a big mansion with a fleet of cars, smart televisions in all rooms, and refrigerators stocked with food and on the other there is a big family living in one room without any amenities and struggling to feed itself, bereft of amenities and hope .

These extremes have created a big chasm in our society and this gap is only growing with time. Smile Foundation, through its multiple initiatives, is committed to working for betterment of this underserved section. At the core of its theory of change is the concept of civic driven change, where people and communities develop empathy and a sense of responsibility to support those in need to make the world a better place.

Children are our future and it is important for them to be aware and responsible towards this reality. Child for Child reaches the children from privileged section and through various interactions with them, tends to create a value based outlook amongst children. Addressing the morning assembly followed by value-based discussions with children has been an important tool to develop and nurture value based behaviour amongst children, the citizens of tomorrow.    

Apart from regular workshops in their respective schools, children are also taken to the Mission Education centres of Smile Foundation. There, they meet their underprivileged counterparts, play with them, teach them, learn something from them among other activities. These personalised visits enable them to see the world around them thoughtfully. The experiences they gain help build empathy and emotional intelligence, which will reflect in their behaviour in times to come.

Children from Mission Education centre for the screening of a film

In addition to the workshops and ME centre visits we have another beautifully designed programme within CFC called, SIFFCY (Smile International Film Festival for Children & Youth). This has been received very well by schools across India.

 The event boasts of showcasing some of the best value based cinema for children, chosen from a range of movies from all across the world. Internationally acclaimed movies with a deep message on values for children have brought in accolades for this initiative and many Principals have acknowledged the fact that emotive engagement of children is the best tool to develop value based thinking.

The core purpose of CFC is to create empathy in the minds of the children of the privileged section so that they could get sensitised to the pains and sufferings of the underprivileged section and develop a mature and responsible outlook towards them.

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Livelihood

STeP Helping the Youth Gain Employment in Emerging Sectors

How Smile Foundation’s STeP Initiative Is Helping the Youth Gain Employment in Emerging Sectors

Soon after the pandemic began in early 2020, a global economic crisis followed. Unemployment emerged as one of the major outcomes of the pandemic. Many industries suffered tremendously, followed by mass layoffs. The unorganised sector has undergone a huge setback as well. In this difficult situation, Smile Foundation’s STeP initiative stepped up and adapted itself to the changing economic and unemployment scenario. The goal is to skill the youth to equip them for jobs in emerging sectors.

Our Livelihood Programme: STeP

Smile Foundation’s Smile Twin E-learning Programme is a livelihood programme for the youth. It aims not just to educate deserving youth with limited opportunities but also to nurture their mental health and personality development. The programme equips them with the skills they need to make their own place in the world and earn their own livelihood.

This livelihood programme has succeeded in addressing the requirement of soft skills needed at the workplace. It also makes candidates confident through comprehensive training on personality development.

The centralised placement cell of STeP creates and sources opportunities for the students, both through on and off-campus placements. STeP ties up with brands such as Paytm, OYO Townhouse, and Café Coffee Day which require a semi-skilled workforce. Often, the course content is worked out as per the requirement of specific brands and their recruitment needs.

The programme seeks to empower underprivileged youth and also offers career counselling to help students choose the right employment in tune with their skills, abilities, and job expectations.

How We Support The Youth?

It is a known fact that a large percentage of college graduates are deemed unemployable by potential employers. It is not their lack of theoretical knowledge that causes this. Instead, it is the lack of the right skills, attitude, and proper guidance.

Smile Foundation’s STeP, through our e-learning education programme, aims at creating a pool of young and independent people from a section of underprivileged youth through skill enhancement in tandem with market requirements. It is an effort towards bridging the gap between the demand and supply of skilled manpower in the fast-emerging services and retail sectors of modern India.

With help from corporates and donors, we are able to equip our 82 centres spread across India to impart the necessary skills.

STeP before COVID

The national-level programme trains poor and underprivileged youth in English proficiency, basic computer education, and soft skills. This is aimed at enhancing their prospects of employment in the retail, hospitality, and BPO sectors.

The hospitality and retail sectors are among the worst hit due to the coronavirus pandemic. These were two of the primary focus sectors for SteP, apart from BPO. Due to the changes caused by the pandemic and the lack of opportunities in these sectors as a result of huge financial losses, we had to innovate and adapt to the situation so that we could still benefit youth and make them employable in other sectors.

Innovations in the STeP initiative since COVID

As the pandemic spread, while some industries collapsed, others came up in a big way. Smile Foundation identified three core sectors that should be the focus of STeP:

  • Healthcare
  • Digital Marketing
  • BFSI (banking, financial services, and insurance).

Apart from these, the BPO sector and e-logistics are also emergent sectors that can be aligned with STeP.

How We Adapted

Sector-wise Developments of Smile Foundation’s STeP Initiative

Healthcare

To train young people in the healthcare sector, Smile Foundation started 45 centres in October 2020, 9 in June 2021, and 12 in July 2021. The jobs in the healthcare sector include those of home caregivers, nurses, ambulance staff, hospital staff, and so on.

Digital Marketing

Three centres have been started in Bangalore, Delhi, and Talegaon (near Pune) since November 2020 to train students in digital marketing. 

BFSI

Employment opportunities have opened up in the banking, finance, and insurance sectors since the beginning of the pandemic.  

Moving Forward

Smile Foundation will keep training the youth with the necessary skills for these sectors and try to get them placed as far as possible. The initiative is being scaled up as the opening up of new businesses and the expansion of the already established ones need more human power to fuel their soaring ambitions. 

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Education Girl Child Health Livelihood

Improving Education of Slum Children

Improving Education of Slum Children

Education is an opportunity through which society and its people are empowered. It is a tool for economic advancements. Education aids in the social, emotional, and psychological growth of individuals and hence, the community as a whole. However, not all have been able to reap the benefits of the existing education system.

Slum children’s education in India in this context remains a burning issue. A lot of factors combine together, in keeping more than half of India’s school-going children out of school.

Slum Children in India

According to the Census 2011, there are 13.7 million slum households across 63% of India’s towns. The residents of these households include migrants, half of them being among the poorest of the poor. More than eight million children under 6 years live in approximately 49,000 slums. There are 22.72 million children (age group 5-18) living in urban slums who are out of school.*

The migrant population in India is mostly illiterate and constantly on the move, in search of new livelihood opportunities.  Migrant children move with their parents and often lose out on age-appropriate educational opportunities. Often they engage in labor to escape poverty and support their parents.

Access to early childhood care, balanced nutrition, education, health, and recreational facilities are keys to the positive development of children.  However, in places where clean drinking water and two square meals are a struggle, slum children’s education, health and other contributing factors for development will always take a backseat.

Problems in Education of Slum Children

The Right to Education Act 2009 was expected to bring a huge surge of enrolment in urban and rural schools. However, after more than a decade there are millions of children who are out of school in India, most live in urban slums and remote rural areas. A higher proportion of girl children (3.23%)  are out of school than boys (2.77%).

Girls in slums and rural areas are out of school as they are engaged in domestic work or do not go to school to take care of the younger siblings. Boys drop out of school to supplement household incomes. Lack of healthcare facilities, absence of toilets in schools, and lack of proper nutrition also lead to an increase in drop-out rates.

Focusing on Girl Child and Women Education

The cycle of illiteracy will continue if proper steps are not taken in time to reduce drop-out rates, increase enrollment and encourage girl child education and slum children’s education. Mother is a child’s first teacher. When mothers remain uneducated they cannot fully comprehend the value of education for their children. Children of educated mothers have better access to education, proper nutrition, and timely healthcare needs like timely immunization against various diseases.

Health, Education, and Empowerment

Smile Foundation’s vision is to work as a catalyst in bringing sustainable change in the lives of non-privileged children, youth, and women, with a life-cycle approach to development.

The life-cycle approach of development starts with opening the doors of education for slum children, the underprivileged. Smile Foundation’s Mission Education focuses on bringing out-of-school children under the folds of education. So far, more than 3,00,000 children have directly benefitted from the programme.

Health Cannot Wait

Under its healthcare campaign, Health Cannot Wait, Smile Foundation’s mobile medical unit, Smile on Wheels addresses the problems of availability and accessibility of proper healthcare services for children and women, especially in urban slums and rural areas. Health camps are conducted for school-going children. The programme has so far provided free healthcare services to more than 1.5 Million children and families.

Training for Empowerment and Employment

Smile Foundation’s Swabhiman programme works extensively with adolescent girls, young and expecting mothers. Scholarships are also provided to bright young girls who perform exceptionally well in school. Healthcare services; ante-natal and post-natal care are provided to women. Adolescent girls are provided with sanitary napkins to break the stigma around periods and also to encourage attendance at school.

The STeP programme ensures young students from slums and rural areas who drop out of school receive skill training. This is done to bridge the gap between the demand and supply of skilled manpower in the fast emerging services and retail sectors of modern India. More than 75,000 youth have been trained through the e-learning programme and 47,000 have also been placed in over 400 brands. 71 percent of total beneficiaries were girls.

Categories
Livelihood

Emergence of Solopreneurs: Creating Ideas and Livelihoods

Emergence of Solopreneurs: Creating Ideas and Livelihoods

India has a rich history of business and a diverse entrepreneurial culture. We are one of the leading Asian countries for creative entrepreneurship. The concept of owning and operating a business is profoundly ingrained in our social, economic, and political cultures.

With a predominantly young population, entrepreneurship is a natural fit. It creates employment, enabling the economy to move forward by maintaining the better part of a billion people working. Among these, the emergence of solopreneurs plays a key role in contributing to employment and creating livelihoods.

We are currently at a crossroads at which urbanisation is being promoted as a key component of our growth strategy. However, concerns about the informal sector have been merged with concerns about the black economy, congestion charges, and a threat to law and order and social cohesion.

The “undermining of social cohesiveness and law and order” sounds a lot like colonial regulators’ concerns about operations on the “other side” of the dual economy split. These concerns contradict our belief that India’s informal sector is an important aspect of the country’s structural development and young demography.

Small/Medium Enterprises and Employment

Small and medium-sized firms account for 40 percent of India’s overall exports. This sector accounts for 45 percent of total industrial output. Small- and medium-sized firms have played a key role in lowering unemployment, eradicating poverty, and reducing economic disparities. SMEs can be launched with a small amount of money. Small businesses can readily obtain SME credit and SME business financing.

In India, job concerns are prevalent. The pandemic made this concern bigger than ever. Small-scale enterprises and small businesses have long been a source of employment in India. Small-scale industries, after agriculture, are the second greatest source of employment in India. An estimate suggested that by 2020, nearly 110 million people will be employed by micro, small, and medium-sized businesses (MSME). 

The Emergence of Solopreneurs through Government Schemes

The Government of India has made admirable efforts to assist SMEs in overcoming these obstacles. The National Manufacturing Competitiveness Programme encourages small businesses to use ICT tools and apps to improve their business processes. Then there’s the Assistance to Training Institutions Scheme, which gives financial support to national-level training institutions under the Ministry of MSME in order to improve SME infrastructure and establish entrepreneurial skill development programmes.

The Path to Digitization for Solo Enterprises

Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) struggled with marketing, competition, and funding before the Internet. They have limited reach and capital due to a limited network. In comparison to the current situation, starting a small firm used to be challenging. Consider spending lakhs on a storefront and then incurring additional costs for furnishings, supplies, and other necessities. Furthermore, because you are unable to relocate frequently, you can only target a restricted number of people. However, thanks to the Internet, the situation has changed dramatically.

MSMEs were aided by social media and digitization in overcoming difficulties. They are now able to compete in a sea of peers with equal strength.

MSMEs can use digitization to cross borders and service customers in other nations. Those MSMEs which accept purchases via e-commerce or through their online store have a 20% bigger consumer base than those that only sell in person.

MSMEs and nano businesses now have a plethora of options thanks to online commerce and social media. Revenue and profit have increased in tandem with the expansion of reach and employment opportunities. 

How Small and Nano Enterprises contribute to the Growth of the Indian Economy

There was a period when the public sector provided a significant portion of job growth. In fact, when opposition political parties accuse the government of failing to create enough jobs, they frequently cite data from public-sector firms.

The most significant benefit of fostering small-scale industries and small enterprises is that they create jobs without requiring considerable government intervention. Both urban and rural growth is aided by SMEs and nanopreneurs. In general, SMEs contribute to the Indian economy in the following ways:

  • Create jobs to help people get out of poverty.
  • Reduce the income disparity between urban and rural areas.
  • Lessen migration, promote regional development, and increase exports.
  • Reduce pollution while increasing output.
  • People’s purchasing power should be increased.
  • Improve the general quality of life.

Conclusion

Big firms and industries frequently find it logistically impossible to establish themselves in rural areas, and even when they can, they limit themselves to specific industrial and commercial zones.

These restrictions do not apply to SMEs. Small enterprises can operate in villages and small towns. This is because the investment is lower, there is better access to small business loans, and often even lower skill, raising people’s living standards in the process.

Smile Foundation’s Efforts Towards Employing The Youth

Understanding that the growing number of MSMEs would mean the need for more human resources, Smile Foundation is doing its bit about it. Realising the need of the hour, Smile Foundation has revamped its livelihood training initiative ‘STeP‘ to fight the challenges posed by unemployment. Our campaign ‘Tayyari Kal Ki’ aims at Training & Upskilling the youth between the age of 18-32 years for employment and empowering them with a secure livelihood.

This livelihood mission is in strong alignment with the Government of India’s ‘Skill India’ initiative. Currently, the programme is operational through 82 centres across 18 cities in 16 states. In the last 15 years, Smile Foundation has trained over 65,000 youth and placed more than 45,000 of them in over 400 brands across India.

Categories
Livelihood

Youth Unemployment in India and How STeP is Taking Measure

Don't Want to Be Old Before We Become Rich
Don't Want to Be Old Before We Become Rich

India has one of the highest youth populations in the world with an estimate high of 365 million youth. More than 500 million Indian citizens are under the age of 25. If it’s 500 million youth, around 65% of our population is of the working-age group and the country’s socio-economic development will witness an unprecedented rise. Economists believe such favorable demographic dividend could add a significant 2% to the GDP of the nation. 

India happens to be one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, and yet this financial growth has not completely trickled down to benefit the sheer volume of people who are out of jobs. What is even more unfortunate is that it is not so much the dearth of jobs, but the lack of skilled manpower that is the reason behind such large numbers of unemployed youth. It is not unemployment, but un-employability that leaves the Indian youth frustrated, dejected and disillusioned.

Unequal access to opportunity remains a persistent problem while lack of formal vocational education, high school dropout rates, inadequate skill training capacity, negative perception towards skilling, and lack of industry-ready skills even in professional courses are the major causes of poor skill levels of India’s workforce.

Cognizant of the fact, over the years, successive Indian governments have launched schemes to both increase the number of new jobs being created and young people’s ability to do them. The most recent of these is the Skill India Mission, which aimed to provide training to 400 million people by 2022 through various government initiatives. The Centre recently revealed that it will soon launch a revamped version of its Skill India initiative with an aim to train young people in the country with “future-ready skills”.

With this very vision and in a concerted effort to equip, enable and empower the youth, Smile Foundation had revamped its national livelihood programme, the Smile Twin e-Learning Programme, or as we call it, STeP. Urban underprivileged youth, including high school drop-outs and under-trained graduates, are identified and enrolled under the programme and trained in sectors that have large growth potential in terms of revenue generation and employability like Core Employability, Healthcare, BFSI, Retail Management, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Digital Marketing.

In addition to knowledge and skill enhancement, STeP also focuses on providing practical exposure to its young trainees to help them get job-ready, by creating an ecosystem wherein the students can meet their potential employers. This is facilitated through regular employer engagement sessions and industry exposure visits which help the youth get hands-on training and develop an understanding of concepts such as workplace culture, customer satisfaction, and work ethics and also familiarize them with everyday challenges. Career counseling sessions and volunteer knowledge exchange programmes are conducted where well-trained, employed youth share their experience with the STeP trainees.

Over the last many years, STeP has successfully trained more than 75,000 youth and placed 47,000 in 400+ reputed brands across the country. 

This, however, is just a small step towards addressing the much larger need of enabling and empowering the huge youth population of the country, and tapping the demographic dividend.

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Smile

Does India have enough Human Resources for Health?

Does India have enough Human Resources for Health?

Human resources are like natural resources; they’re often buried deep. You have to go looking for them; they’re not just lying around on the surface. You have to create the circumstances where they show themselves.  – Ken Robinson

 

The group of individuals who work for a certain company, business sector, industry, or economy is referred to as its human resources. Human capital, or the knowledge and abilities that people possess, is a more specific idea. Manpower, labour, personnel, colleagues, or simply “people” are comparable concepts. Therefore, the people who manage the human resources have a very important task.

 

Covid-19 started a number of discussions on the problems with the health systems throughout the world, including their inability to handle the high amount of admissions and the lack of access to basic medical services, diagnostic tools, and treatment alternatives. The lack and unequal distribution of healthcare personnel have been a fundamental issue for the medical community for decades. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines human resources for health (HRH) as “people engaged in activities that primarily promote health”  in order to broaden the idea’s application.

 

One of the most significant structural issues for policymakers and planners has been the global lack of HRH and discrepancies in their distribution between areas and nations. Worldwide, achieving a certain minimum level of HRH has been a top aim. Recognizing its significance, WHO and the UN have prioritised appropriate HRH on the health and development agenda and pushed other nations to follow suit. Increased HRH density—that is, the number of HRH professionals per 10,000 people—has been linked to lower rates of infant and maternal mortality, lower disease loads, and better vaccination, according to cross-country assessments. 

 

Such statistics have been utilised over the past few years to estimate the minimal amount of HRH needed for a population of 10,000 (threshold of HRH requirement). Below this line, it is thought that the areas won’t be able to provide the people with the desired degree of health coverage.

 

Why is Primary Health Care Important?

 

Daily medical requirements are handled by primary care professionals (PCPs) . You’ll stay healthier and pay less for healthcare if you have a long-term connection with a PCP. A PCP can help you seek more advanced care if you need it, treat you when you are ill, and educate you how to stay healthy. It takes time to choose the best PCP for you, but in the long term, it will enhance your health.

 

A PCP can assist you in maintaining good health and also provide first care for any emerging medical issues. Find a PCP who will work with you on your long-term care, and schedule frequent exams. Your PCP can assist you in identifying and treating a variety of health problems. A PCP may provide you advice on how to live a better lifestyle, offer necessary prescriptions, do illness screenings, and suggest specialists as required. 

 

Look for a PCP who matches your requirements and personality.

 

Human resources for Health in India

 

Over the past 75 years, the state, market and people of India have actively changed the country’s health human resource situation. In the 1940s, there were few qualified healthcare professionals and few schools offering health sciences courses. Since then, a vast army of health workers and specialists has emerged from several disciplines.

 

The basic, secondary, and tertiary care provided at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels in both the public and commercial sectors is largely dependent on India’s commitment to the UHC. Through the national health Mission NHM, which was started in 2005–2006 and lasted beyond 2003, the public health system in India was made community-centric as opposed to structural changes, serving as a social vaccination throughout the pandemic with frontline health workers as crucial employees.

 

Inadequacies in the health workforce must be filled since it serves as a pillar of support for the entire population in both good and bad times.

 

Challenges

 

Accessibility to healthcare in rural parts— it can be exceedingly difficult to send trained medical personnel to rural, underserved, and remote areas. Healthcare accessibility in rural areas: Only around 26% of India’s doctors practise there, despite the fact that roughly 69% of its citizens reside in villages.

 

Doctor shortage— There is only one doctor for every 1,000 Indians, and the number of specialists is sometimes only one-tenth of what is needed.

 

The total nurse to doctor ratio is 1.7:1, while the ratio of allied health professionals to doctors is 1:1, according to research from the World Health Organization and Public Health Foundation of India. According to the NSSO (2017–18), labour force estimates, the doctor-to-nurse ratio is under 1:1.3. There are about 3-4 nurses for every doctor in OECD nations.

 

The dynamics of public health, health policy, and demography have changed throughout time, but the country’s health curriculum has not kept up. Instead of emphasising primary and preventative healthcare for the community, education for health professionals is more clinically and technologically geared toward a treatment-centric curative paradigm.

 

WAY AHEAD

 

Instead, the government has to simplify the processes for establishing medical schools, invest more in infrastructure, and offer incentives for the growth of a rural health-care ecosystem.

 

The following suggestions are made by Oxfam India in order to improve the overall situation for human resources for health and advance toward uniform health coverage— 

 

In the healthcare industry, a thorough human resource policy needs to be created. The number of qualified physicians and other health professionals should be increased, and appropriate policy measures should be implemented to fill all open posts.

 

In order to entice skilled health professionals to work in rural and distant locations, the public sector will need to develop suitable packages of financial and non-financial incentives. To stop the waste of our limited resources and solve the issue of a scarcity of health personnel, policy should be put in place to limit foreign migration.

 

Human Resource Management in Healthcare

 

In the healthcare sector, human resource management (HRM) is crucial for luring qualified candidates and keeping dependable employees.

 

In the healthcare industry, HRM does a lot more than just send out open enrollment benefit packets. Although many of us may only think of them in that type of constrained capacity, the field is considerably more expansive. Human Resource Management in hospital administration is involved in the hiring, firing, and resolution of labour, management, and employee issues. It also handles legal issues pertaining to the facility and any foreign-hired workers, as well as the training and development of the staff.

 

The orientation of new employees is coordinated by the HR department. Training and development provide a healthcare institution the assistance it needs for staff growth and hiring procedures. Additionally, it assists in training potential leaders for future administrative and supervisory positions. Clearly, there is a huge importance of human resource management in hospitals.

 

Smile Foundation’s Role 

 

Smile Foundation has been actively involved in giving medical services to the vulnerable families and educating them. The Smile on Wheels programme has given free healthcare services to 1.5 million people. Do Contribute for healthier families and lives!

Categories
Livelihood

How to Learn New Skills in Life?

How to learn new skills in life?

The only skill that will be important in the 21st century is the skill of learning new skills. Everything else will become obsolete over time. – Peter Drucker

As a seasoned high achiever, Samiksha* felt at ease setting lofty objectives and accepting difficult tasks. She was well-liked in her line of work and frequently consulted her coworkers for guidance. She had been employed by the same business for a considerable amount of time and had successfully shifted between a number of different tasks throughout that period. Samiksha was intelligent, diligent, and skilled at serving as a mentor to others as they built their capacities and careers. She was then abruptly moved into a different position.

She was concerned about how she was doing and worried that she wasn’t picking up the new abilities quickly enough. She was specifically contrasting herself with other coworkers who, in Samiksha’s opinion, were quicker and more adept at executing the essential duties of the position than she was. Samiksha was concerned that she was failing her team to the extent that she thought her job would be in danger.

Any of us who have moved employment, whether it was voluntarily or as a result of a reorganisation, will be able to relate to Samiksha’s story. Most of us like the security of the familiar and the sensation of competence while performing jobs in which we have through time developed skill.

While some individuals appreciate the novelty of a fresh start or the excitement of the unknown, many of us find juggling new obligations to be particularly anxiety-inducing. Just consider the world’s wealthiest individuals. The people who are most adept at picking up new talents are the ones that constantly succeed.

The Stories of Successful Individuals

Successful people commit to investing their free time in the pursuit of knowledge (instead of vegging out in front of the television.) And they fulfil their commitment to study. In light of this, there are a plethora of interesting skills to learn like learning a new language, music, cooking etc.

This feeling of beginning anything new, according to author Tom Vanderbilt, necessitates having a “beginner’s mentality,” a term borrowed from Zen Buddhism. He contemplated the “beginner’s mentality” after trying out new activities for a year with less-than-successful outcomes in contrast to his daughter, who was learning a variety of new abilities at the same time. Because of our brain’s neuroplasticity—its capacity to remodel itself in response to new challenges—adults are still more than capable of learning new abilities, although we do so much more slowly and clumsily than children.

You may do this by imitating professionals until you find your own style and approach. According to Benjamin Franklin‘s autobiography, he taught himself how to write in this style:

I took some of the papers (from The Spectator magazine), and, making short hints of the sentiment in each sentence, laid them by a few days, and then, without looking at the book, try’d to complete the papers again, by expressing each hinted sentiment at length, and as fully as it had been expressed before, in any suitable words that should come to hand. – Benjamin Franklin

He started transforming the stories into poetry and back again after comparing his work to the originals and realising where he was falling short. This is how he improved his ability to communicate.

This kind of education may be used to master any ability, including writing, foreign language communication, and even athletics. You will identify areas that require development if you compare your work to that of specialists in your sector.

Importance of Learning New Skills

Since the world is always evolving and changing, new developments in business and society are made virtually daily. Employees or professionals may fall behind without conversion.

Consider the effect social media and virtual life have recently had on communication. It is not popular to send letters from one location to another. This kind of fundamental transformation may have a significant effect on how a company’s clients and employees see it.

The following are reasons why acquiring new skills is important.

  1. A feeling of accomplishment: You can adjust to any scenario while you are acquiring new abilities. You feel accomplished after accomplishing this. Know your value and the things you are capable of doing. The creation of new chances inspires you and gives you a sense of importance.
  1. Development: Developing new talents can help you advance not only in your career but also as a person. You have the power to better yourself. You also have access to fresh and diverse opportunities. Self-development is a form of progress.
  1. Financial gain: Developing new talents allows you to take on additional jobs or make larger investments. As a result, you gain by earning more than you otherwise would. This increases your earnings at work.

How does learning new skills and knowledge benefit you?

For many of us, our work provides us with a fantastic opportunity for growth and development. You are inspired and motivated by your learning process. You will become aware of how much you have learnt as you reflect back on your earlier experiences.

However, the lack of development might make us feel depressed and demoralised if we feel as though our efforts aren’t helping us in any way.

The advantages of picking up new talents at work are as follows:

One significant advantage of gaining new abilities at work is the growth in knowledge. It bestows to you a fresh sensibility with which to assess. This is the process or action of learning new abilities through experience, instruction, practice, and study.

Developing new abilities will undoubtedly make you more yourself. Additionally, it will boost your self-assurance. You’ll start to feel valuable, and as a result, you’ll attempt a lot of other things that could work.

Smile Foundation

Smile Foundation has been actively involved through its e-learning education programme, STeP to train the poor and underprivileged youth in English Proficiency, Basic Computer Education and Soft Skills for enhancing their prospects of employment in the fast expanding retail, hospitality and BPO sectors.

So far, 65,000+ youth have been trained through the programme and 40,000+ have been placed in over 400+ reputed brands across India.

Categories
Smile

Why are New Entrepreneurs choosing Health?

Why are New Entrepreneurs choosing Health?

As the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns caused widespread chaos, people realised the importance of a healthy lifestyle. In India, and around the world, this was reflected in the growing demand for health supplements. According to reports, there was an increase in the demand for health and wellness products in the country post-covid. Between April 2021 and May 2021, demand for foods like oats increased by 31%, while soup demand increased by 4%.


This was primarily because of the awareness about health. People wanted to try new ways of improving their overall physical and mental health. This also provided an opportunity for humane entrepreneurship to thrive. The new-age health entrepreneurs were now ready leverage this opportunity and bring innovation that could help people.


Healthcare entrepreneurship in India

The healthcare sector in India is big. However, there is still a lot of scope for the sector to improve and adapt to the changing conditions. This is giving a push to healthcare entrepreneurs in India who are willing to take the lead and bring change. Some of these initiatives include tech-based platforms that are helping healthcare facilities to reach the last mile.


As per reports, India today has more than 3000 start-ups focused on creating reliable healthcare ecosystem in the country. Healthcare companies like Pristyn Care and Innovaccer, both are using technology to solve the problems in the healthcare sector in India.


The humane entrepreneurship program has also given rise to companies manufacturing nutraceutical products. According to a report by EY, the market for dietary supplements in India expanded at a CAGR of almost 15% to reach Rs 331 billion in FY21. 


According to the EY analysis, the increased demand for natural and ayurvedic products has prompted companies who are currently involved in this market to make a stronger case for their expertise while also catching the eye of participants in the pharmaceutical industry.


India has a long tradition of using dietary supplements and spices for health benefits. Ayurveda, an alternative medicine practice, has been prominent in the country for centuries and is also being accepted across the globe. The health entrepreneurs in India are not overlooking this ancient practice. They are integrating it in their technology-driven start-ups in a way that is transforming the way Ayurveda is used.


Future of Humane Entrepreneurship Program in India

India is becoming a lucrative space for entrepreneurs who are looking to innovate. Over the last one decade, hundreds of new start-ups have emerged in the country. These start-ups range from education to finance, and electric mobility to artificial intelligence.

While the idea behind every start-up, in one way or the other, is to solve a problem by filling the gap between demand and supply, the brand of humane entrepreneurs are taking it one step ahead.


The Covid-19 pandemic also taught us a very important lesson. It was the need for community partnership and the importance of helping each other. This spirit of helping the others is now beginning to reflect in the humane entrepreneurship program in India.


The health entrepreneurs, along with those working in other important spaces, can be called the flagbearers for this program. As per reports, 21% of Indians are obese, 20% have high blood pressure, and 9% have diabetes. Apart from this, many parts of the country are facing the problem of air pollution and water pollution. By 2020, 1.73 million new cases of cancer are anticipated in India, according to data from the National Cancer Registry Program.


This shows us that there is an urgent need to focus on health and wellness. While the public institutions are playing their role, the private sector can also make a huge difference. As we move forward, we can expect some of these problems to exacerbate. This way, humane entrepreneurship in India is not just a need but also a great opportunity.


Healthcare entrepreneurship: For a Better Tomorrow

As we have talked about it in the past, India has an abysmally low doctor-to-patient ratio. India ranks a pitiful 154th out of 195 nations in the Global Burden of Disease Study’s healthcare index. 


The healthcare facilities in semi-urban areas and rural areas are not appropriate. In the remote parts of the country, people have to travel hours before they can find a good healthcare facility.


This is where technology and health entrepreneurs can make a significant impact. The health entrepreneurs are domain experts. They possess the knowledge of the healthcare sector and the science as well. When they form a partnership with tech-experts, they can bring premium quality health facilities at everyone’s doorstep.


Not just that, by bringing humane entrepreneurship and healthcare sector together, a large sum of money can also be pumped. This can also help in skilling of more people who can provide health assistance to others. It will not only create jobs but can also fill the huge gap in demand and supply in the industry.


Healthcare entrepreneurship in India is extremely crucial. For a country of 1.4 billion people, with a landscape so vast and varying, it is only through private partnership and technology that the lacuna can be filled. For a better tomorrow, the humane entrepreneurs must continue to march on.


Smile Foundation and Human Entrepreneurship Program related to Healthcare


Smile Foundation  through its innovative healthcare initiative, Smile on Wheels has so far provided free healthcare services to more than 15,41,000 children and families. Let’s make a healthier and happier India together!

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Moving towards Inclusive Education: NEP 2020

Moving towards Inclusive Education: NEP 2020

The New Education Policy, 2020 (NEP) was launched with a vision of transforming the education system in India. The initiative has been hailed as a positive step in the direction of bringing necessary changes in the education system. Before the introduction of the National Education Policy, the Indian education system was governed by the 1986 NEP and Right to Education (RTI) act of 2009. This meant that there was a huge gap between what was needed and what was being delivered.

For this very reason itself, the National Education Policy becomes extremely crucial. As per the official document of Government of India, the NEP 2020 addresses many concerns related to primary, secondary, higher, and technical education in the country.

From removing the hard separation between Arts and Science, Vocational and Educational streams, it also focuses on reforming assessments. While there are a range of important points, what we are discussing today is the effort to make education more inclusive.


The New Education Policy document states that there is a special emphasis on socially and economically disadvantaged groups to make education equitable and inclusive. For the benefit of disadvantaged groups, Special Education Zones will be established. Additionally, the NEP education system will also have a separate Gender Inclusion fund.


Inclusive Education in India

The need for a change in education system in India has been felt for a long time. However, this feeling became stronger during the Covid-19 pandemic when we saw how students from disadvantaged groups suffered as we moved to an online model of learning.


Integration of special needs children with other groups was emphasised in both the Programme of Action (1992) and the National Policy on Education (1986). “To integrate the physically and mentally challenged with the general population as equal partners, to prepare them for normal growth, and to enable them to confront life with courage and confidence,” was the stated goal.


The same has also been discussed in National Curriculum Framework of 2005, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), and other initiatives. However, new ways of imagining this integration were needed. This is where New Education Policy comes in.

Having said that, what we can see that various policy documents have outlined the need for inclusive education. But the questions remains if we have achieved anything significant in this direction? As mentioned above, Covid-19 exposed many limitations in our education system.


There were reports of disabled students not being able to access education as the online learning mode wasn’t equipped for their needs. Students from economically disadvantaged groups also suffered the most during this period. While, female students also were left behind their male counterparts.


Therefore, we can safely say that there is an immediate need for change in education system in India and make it more inclusive. The NEP education system may or may not be able to address this. Its success depends on various other factors.


New Education Policy: Advantages & Disadvantages

While New Education Policy advantages are many, how it recognizes and defines the need of inclusion in education is commendable. Females make up at least half of each of the four Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs) designated within NEP 2020, which appears to have taken into account the fact that female students face additional disadvantages.


The other advantages of NEP are that it looks at education from a 21st century lens. It aims to integrate technology and entrepreneurship in education and make the best of all the resources that we have at our disposal.


The adoption of local or regional language as the medium of instruction under NEP 2020 assures that language is no longer a barrier for kids. Additionally, special educators must be hired by schools to meet the academic demands of students with special needs.


So, there are a range of advantages of the New Education Policy. But are there any disadvantages? It would be wrong to use the phrase ‘New Education Policy disadvantages’ because the policy aims to achieve positive change.


However, we can certainly say that what’s needed is to go beyond the framework and work on actual implementation on the ground. As we have seen, the issue of inequity has been Taddressed in various other policies in the past but what can make New Education Policy different is how its guidelines are implemented.


There has also been criticism of the policy on various fronts. One such criticism being the policy does not focus on Dalit and Adivasi communities specifically. The critique is also on related to language and the need for reforming the curriculum to make it more inclusive.


Children in private schools will start learning English much earlier than pupils in government institutions, according to the national education policy 2020. Government school students will be instructed in the academic curriculum in their original regional tongues. This might further polarise the student body.


New Education Policy: The Way Ahead

There is definitely a long way to go after this. What we need is a focused approach to achieve what is aspired through NEP 2020. Among other things, the policy aims to raise public investment in education from 4.4% of India’s GDP to 6%. If this can be achieved, it will be a much-needed first step in the right direction.


So, as we laud the efforts of the government, we must also discuss the next step. What we need is a skilled workforce of educators who can make inclusivity a reality in education. We also need the political will and the support of bureaucracy.


All this combined with the efforts of the society can help in achieving what we have set to achieve. NEP could be a start, but it’s a long way to go.


Smile Foundation and Education

Smile Foundation, through its ‘Shiksha Na Ruke’ initiative, has been helping children from difficult circumstances get back to school and restart their lives with hope. At present, we are directly providing education to over 100,000 children in 23 states of India.

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Is AI in Healthcare a trillion-dollar economy in India?

Is AI in Healthcare a trillion-dollar economy in India?

Artificial Intelligence – it is a buzzword today. AI is often touted as the next-gen technology that has the potential to change the world for the better. But what exactly is Artificial Intelligence or AI? And why are we talking about AI in healthcare today? Let’s try to understand it this way; the human brain is a complex organ. 

 

It can process information at an unbelievable speed and help create wonders. Now, when computers develop this capacity to learn from information, identify patterns, and perform certain tasks on their own, we call it Artificial Intelligence.

Now, coming to AI in healthcare and its benefits. As mentioned above, AI is being used today to enhance or improve a myriad of healthcare activities. For example, manufacturing or supply-chain management is becoming more and more efficient because of AI. Artificial Intelligence is also being used to improve security.

In the same way, AI is also being integrated into healthcare services to enhance their delivery.

 

Artificial Intelligence and Healthcare in India

 

In a country where healthcare workers make up only close to one-fourth of the recommended limit by the World Health Organisation, AI in healthcare becomes a necessity. Today, AI is being used to diagnose patients, detect risks, read, and analyse reports, and much more. 

 

As we move forward, we can expect Artificial Intelligence to also transform the medicine or pharmaceutical industry in India. Private players are using AI in medicine to test and develop new drugs, and also reducing the administrative costs of manufacturing and supplying them.

 

Not just that, Artificial Intelligence is also being used in India to now set up remote ICUs. These smart ICUs allow 24X7 monitoring of patients in remote areas by doctors sitting in urban centers. Imagine how revolutionary this can be for a country where numerous people lose their lives because they have to travel hours to access good quality emergency care.

 

Having said that, is AI in healthcare and medicine on the path to becoming a trillion-dollar industry in India?

 

Future of AI in Healthcare for India

 

As per reports, by 2025, it is anticipated that India will spend $11.78 billion on AI. By 2035, it is projected to have increased India’s economy by $1 trillion. Further, spending on AI grew by more than 109% in 2018, growing to a $665 million industry. This shows that AI in healthcare industry is on a positive trajectory of growth in the country.

 

There are a number of reasons for this. As discussed above, one of the biggest reasons is the lack of good quality healthcare infrastructure in rural, as well as semi-urban, areas. With India’s growing population, the healthcare sector is expected to be burdened more in the coming years.

 

Amidst all this, the benefits of AI in healthcare are immense for a country like India. Early disease diagnosis, the development of new drugs, drug testing, diabetic retinopathy, cancer treatment, cardiovascular disease, and eye care are all areas where artificial intelligence is already being used.

 

AI Experiments in India Related To Healthcare

 

NITI Aayog has been experimenting with the use of AI to detect early-stage diabetes. It is also testing the use of AI in eye screening. 

 

At the same time, the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) and a private company are working together to develop a programme that can simultaneously analyse all health-related media reports and compile a database of 33 disease outbreaks.

 

Initiatives are also being taken by premiere institutions like Tata Medical Center and the Indian Institute of Technology. The institutions jointly launched the country’s first de-identified cancer image bank. High-quality de-identified photos can be used by AI-based tools to help machine-learning models find biomarkers and enhance the results of cancer research.

 

Apollo Hospitals is also leveraging Artificial Intelligence to develop a model for predicting heart attack risks. This is a testament to the fact that the benefits of AI in healthcare are numerous and India is ready to cash upon these benefits to improve its healthcare sector.

 

Opportunities and Challenges for AI in healthcare

 

While we talked about the future of AI in healthcare, we must also address the challenges that exist. While there are many opportunities, the road ahead is not absolutely smooth. One of the biggest challenges will be investing in the research and development of technologies.

 

Even if we have the right technology in place, India will still require a skilled workforce that can help in the implementation of these services on the ground. Therefore, AI education, especially AI in healthcare will have to be taught in schools and colleges.

 

Tools and technologies based on AI need a large amount of patient data. An increase in the likelihood of incorrect decisions, such as erroneous drug prescriptions or disease detection, can be brought on by incomplete or faulty data.

 

It also poses a threat to privacy. So, it will have to be ensured that patient data is collected in a reliable and efficient manner, which will be a major challenge in a country like India with 140 billion people.

 

Additionally, AI challenges in healthcare also require ethical and responsible integration in the process. Doctors should be able to use AI as a tool and not automate entire processes. 

 

AI in healthcare: The road ahead

 

Predictive models based on artificial intelligence have become one of the nation’s most effective weapons in the war against COVID-19. Computer simulations have been utilised by decision-makers to predict how the COVID-19 scenario may change over time. 

 

Machine-learning models were created by numerous researchers and businesses, including TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) and KPMG India, in order to forecast the disease’s severity and identify at-risk groups across the nation.

 

This shows that the future of AI in healthcare is full of hope. What we need is to increase the benefits of AI and overcome the challenges. As India moves on the path of a trillion-dollar opportunity, the country must make the best of it to serve the people.

 

Smile Foundation in Healthcare

 

Smile Foundation finding that a mobile healthcare services delivery system is the most practical mechanism to reach the  underprivileged initiated the Smile on Wheels programme. A unique mobile hospital programme that seeks to address problems of mobility, accessibility and availability of primary healthcare with a special focus on children and women, in urban slums and remote rural areas.

 

The initiative has so far provided free healthcare services to more than 15,41,000 children and families.

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