The APJ Abdul Kalam Learning Centre is an after-school programme, which aims to provide a solid and holistic educational foundation to children from low-income communities to bridge the learning gaps and ensure the children stay in school. Following the principle of empowering through education our teaching does not focus only on academic education but also on non-academic learning to mould and nurture confidence, self-esteem and self-awareness amongst our students.

 

 

Alumni Support and Scholarships

 

Teenage years are years of building on knowledge and skills to prepare for a higher-level course of study, of goal setting and aspirations and of exploring spaces to identify possible career paths. It is a vulnerable and precarious age and in the absence of any support for children in the communities, it is an age when many drop out to support the family income or simply stay at home due to the inability of parents to support them for further education. The Alumni and Scholarship Programme is an anchor for each Udaan child, post Grade 10, to turn to for emotional, moral, academic and financial support to tide over the trying period of doubts ad decisions. The Alumni Programme begins with sessions of aptitude testing and career counseling to understand one’s strengths and challenges in order to choose an appropriate course of study. A one-on-one counseling session helps students make an informed choice towards the path of higher level education. The Scholarship Programme, then, provides financial aid towards the child’s junior and senior graduation years, be it for mainstream college or open school, a vocational or professional course or coaching classes. The performance of each child is monitored in regular alumni meetings to erase hurdles of any nature which could set the child back in his strides towards progress. Visits to industries, professional college fests and guest lectures ensure that the child is introduced to the real world of business and commerce, stimulating him to work on himself to be a part of this world in the future. A unique feature of the Udaan Alumni Programme is the recruitment of Udaan alumni, as paid assistants in its existing programmes without impinging on their academic responsibilities, to provide a small stipend to meet their daily needs. The aim of the programme is to be a mentor and guide for students to help them stay focused on their goal as they begin their second phase of learning journey.

Skills Enhancement

 

Much has been written and spoken about the problem that is plaguing our ‘developing’ nation: the volume of educated, unskilled, unemployed youth losing faith in the significance of education. Every citizen, bureaucrat and politician is aware that the future of the country lies in creating a “skilled workforce” for the problem facing our country, which is not that of unemployment but of unemployability. The Udaan Skills Enhancement Programme (SEP) aims to equip the youth with theoretical knowledge, practical skills and a positive attitude to seek meaningful employment and take them towards self-sufficiency. Thus, the emphasis of the SEP is on enhancing the employability level through 4 segments: Computer literacy Spoken English Vocational training Soft Skills Any youth is eligible to apply for the SEP and enrol for all the segments or for just one or some of them. At the Udaan Computer Centre we run a NIIT accredited programme, where students are introduced to the basics of computer literacy that build a foundation to take on higher level computer skills at a later stage in their professional lives. The focus of the curriculum is on learning practical computer skills along with a theoretical foundation of computer science. The course that covers Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Internet is divided into two stages: the preparatory stage and NIIT first level, to ensure a gradual and thorough assimilation of studied material. At the end of the programme, a NIIT evaluation certifies successful candidates. The Udaan Spoken English course aims to impart basic English language skills to support the youth in achieving their higher educational goals, equip them to do well in their future jobs and confidently converse in social situations. The course follows the Yuva English curriculum designed by the Centre for Learning Resources specifically for learners in the age group of 16 – 21 years who have completed their secondary education in a vernacular medium. Yuva English is an interactive course with a bilingual and learner centric approach that focuses on learning the application of language tenets rather than assimilation of mere language concepts. Language games, conversations, discussions, drill, functional writing exercises, mock interviews – all aim at shaping a confident youth empowered to accomplish basic social and business communication. The Vocational training programme imparts working know-how and practical skills for a specialized discipline of knowledge to take up careers in fields such as Retail, Automobile, and Hospitality. Udaan collaborates with different agencies of vocational training who implement the actual training sessions after a thorough audit of the curriculum, implementation and monitoring systems. Udaan has collaborated with such agencies as Rustomjee Academy of Global Careers (RAGC), Youth Career Initiative and Skills Academy. Sessions on Soft Skills conducted by corporate volunteers prepare the participants to confront the professional work place with the desired set of values, attitudes and behaviour. Sessions on grooming, goal setting and time management focus on getting them ready to take on the future with confidence. The ultimate goal for SEP is to yield self-sufficient, compassionate and responsible youth, who are meaningfully employed.