{"id":3842,"date":"2020-01-10T07:38:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-10T07:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/?p=3842"},"modified":"2022-11-20T07:40:45","modified_gmt":"2022-11-20T07:40:45","slug":"smiles-step-in-the-right-direction-for-youth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/smiles-step-in-the-right-direction-for-youth\/","title":{"rendered":"Smile\u2019s STeP in the right direction for youth"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"3842\" class=\"elementor elementor-3842\" data-elementor-settings=\"{&quot;ha_cmc_init_switcher&quot;:&quot;no&quot;}\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-5814e361 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"5814e361\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;_ha_eqh_enable&quot;:false}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-5ad6ecce\" data-id=\"5ad6ecce\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-507ef2f6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"507ef2f6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n<p>Looking at the current job situation in our country, future for our youth appears dreary. Slow economy, lack of new investment, job cuts, rise of automation, stagnation in manufacturing activity and a \u201cnew normal\u201d of hiring contract labour in the formal economy, are major hurdles preventing our semi-skilled workforce to find jobs.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As of date, unemployment in India is at a 45-year high of 6.1 per cent as per the officially unannounced\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.business-standard.com\/article\/economy-policy\/unemployment-rate-at-five-decade-high-of-6-1-in-2017-18-nsso-survey-119013100053_1.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">NSSO statistics<\/a>. \u00a0The Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), a private think tank, has calculated unemployment rate at 7.7 per cent as of December 2019. Both the NSSO and the CMIE have found that the jobless rate among youth is significantly higher compared to the overall population and hence it requires immediate attention.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>States which are hardest hit are Tripura, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh with unemployment rate of more than 20%. Delhi, the capital and employment hub of the country, presently has an unemployment rate of 11.2%.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-3845\" src=\"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/1-9-1024x683-1-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/1-9-1024x683-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/1-9-1024x683-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/1-9-1024x683-1.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Smile Foundation\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/e_learning.html\">STeP programme \u2013 (Smile Twin E-learning Programme)\u00a0<\/a>which is a livelihood programme for the youth comes as a sure ray of hope for many.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Smile\u2019s STeP programme aimed at skilling the youth is not just a medium of education, but a means of nurturing the mental <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/health\/\" title=\"Health\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"712\">health<\/a> and personality development of the underprivileged youth, facilitating them to do their part in making the world a better place.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/livelihood\/\" title=\"Livelihood\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"221\">livelihood<\/a> program has succeeded, where most \u2018vocational\u2019 training courses fail, i.e. to address the requirement of soft skills needed at the workplace and making the candidates confident through comprehensive training on personality development.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Data from the past five years of STeP programme, shows that of the 34,897 youth trained, 22,498 have successfully been placed, which is a good 65%.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But how is the big question? The Smile skilling program \u2013 with components of spoken English, basic computers, financial literacy, personality development and industry visits\u2014 in the form of exposure to the job-sites of potential recruiters, where these students get to see and feel things first hand. Mock interviews and group discussions are also conducted as part of the curriculum make the candidates job ready.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3846\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3846\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3846\" src=\"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/1-5-1024x768-1-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/1-5-1024x768-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/1-5-1024x768-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/1-5-1024x768-1.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3846\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Youth trained in the STeP programme<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Smile Foundation also also operates a Centralised Placement Cell, where the backend team often works with potential employers from different sectors to understand their needs, analyse them and create opportunities for students, both through on and off-campus placements. Over time, the course content is often tweaked according to the industry trends and requirements.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0STeP often ties-up with popular brands, often, start-ups like Paytm, OYO Townhouse, Caf\u00e9 Coffee Day to name some that require semi-skilled workforce, then works out the course content accordingly.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The programme which caters to the underprivileged youth, also offers career counseling to help students choose the right employment in tune with their skills, ability and job expectations.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Most of the candidates trained at STeP centres evolve into first-generation organised sector professionals becoming an inspiration for their siblings, upcoming generations and communities at large.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Looking at the current job situation in our country, future for our youth appears dreary. Slow economy, lack of new investment, job cuts, rise of automation, stagnation in manufacturing activity and a \u201cnew normal\u201d of hiring contract labour in the formal economy, are major hurdles preventing our semi-skilled workforce to find jobs. \u00a0 As of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3843,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-spotlight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3842\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smilefoundationindia.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}