Banglore , 28 May : Every year, millions of young Indians pass out fromschools and colleges only to join the reserved army of the unemployed, as theirskills are not at par to the requirements of the growing corporate India, manyland in odd and menial jobs, much below their talent and potential.To address this gap,VocationalAcademyIndia Private Limited, a jointinitiative of Collabrant Group and STRiVE(an incubation of IFMR Trust),launched its services in April 2009, under the brand name VOCAD –VOCATIONALACADEMY,withthe objective of bridging the gap between potent Bharat and a rapidly growingIndia, and to realize the dream of “Bharat Incorporated”.
VocationalAcademyintends to equip the rural and semi-urban youth withrequisite skills in order to meet the expectation of modern India, whilegenerating opportunities at the grassroots level.The emphasis is on providing awide range of programs through a demand led approach to enhance and facilitateemployability, career opportunities and entrepreneurship skills.
Mr. Srivatsan, Managing Director,VocationalAcademyopines- “VocationalAcademyis more than just another educationalinstitution. We are creating a movement to realize the dreams of the youth inrural and semi urban India.While the country makes great strides, it is imperative to engage our youthfrom across states, rural and districts in building Bharat Inc. These youngIndians want to par`ticipate in the country’s success, and desire to have arightful share of all the development. VOCAD is a platform for these youth torealize their potential and make an impact on our country’s burgeoningeconomy.”
Adding to that, Dr Nachiket Mor,Chairman, IFMR Trust), said, "When we talk about prosperity anddevelopment, we are talking about human beings; and human beings can onlyadvance when they possess skills – skills that are relevant to the emergingneeds of a rapidly growing economy that India is. Initiatives such asVocationalAcademyare focused on enhancing theemployability of semi-urban / rural students who have finished formal educationthat did not give them the skills to get or keep a job."
With this in mind,VocationalTraining Network Enterprise (VTNE), anentity incubated atIFMR Trust),has made aRs 27.5 million investment inVocationalAcademy.
Bindu Ananth, President, IFMRTrust, said, "VTNE is a venture thatacts as a supply chain enabler in the ‘first-time semi-urban / rural job seekerto the corporate supply chain’, investing in solutions that address the current gap inthe demand and supply of trained manpower. Given this context,VocationalAcademyis a very strategic investment forus."
Puneet Gupta, Managing Partner,NEF, quoted, "Given its non-cyclicalnature, education is becoming a sought after investment for private equityinvestors. NEF, through VTNE, has in the past also made investment in avocationaleducation sourcing company, STRiVE,which provides assessment, counseling, apprenticeship, jobs, and certificationsto rural / semi-urban students. We expectVocationalAcademyto use the funds to grow market shareby launching 50 centers by 2010, and having a presence in every district of thecountry by 2017"
Speakingon the occasion Suresh Mutyala, CEO, STRiVEsaid “Trained manpowerremains the single largest impediment for growth in the service sector and wewish to fulfil that need through Vocad. To that extent, Vocad remains our mostimportant investment in achieving our objective of reaching out to a millionhouseholds in five years”
VocationalAcademyIndia P Ltd under the brand name Vocad aims to bridge theskill gap and provide trained manpower to various emerging service sectors in India. Vocadoffers special and tailor-made job-oriented courses, customized especiallykeeping present day market necessities in mind. Addressing the underlyingproblems of financial accessibility and practicality of the conventionaleducational institutions, Vocad has devised customized courses in variousverticals like Emerging Businesses, BFSI and Technical at affordable fees. Theaverage course fee ranges between Rs.5, 000 to Rs.7, 500. In fact, the feestructure is arrived in such a manner that it will be approximately equivalentto an expected month’s salary on employment. In order to ensure a fitment for asuitable course enrollment to the courses is through aBasic Aptitude Test which isadministered to identify strengths, aptitude, aspiration and interest of thestudent.
VOCAD courses are devised byindustry experts and are taught in classes of limited size, such that eachstudent can gain maximum benefits from personalized attention with classroominteraction. A combination of hands-on training and faculty-led sessionsprepares the students for the job from the first day / first hour. The coursesalso have frequent interactive sessions in the form of quizzes to testknowledge and update the students with the current market scenario. Studentswill undergo compulsory internship at the end of every course and will beoffered jobs throughVocationalAcademy’s ‘JobsXchange’, for which the organization has tied up with leading corporates in themarket and will keep tying up more corporates.
Vocad is currently being launched in8 locations andworking ona business plan of establishing our footprint in every district of India in 5-7years.