Bangalore, Jan 12 (IANS) Computer literacy and English proficiency can go a long way in helping people secure jobs. A Bangalore-based group has now unveiled a special training programme to equip women, including homemakers and college dropouts, with these skills and more.

“The objective of the training is to equip women of different backgrounds with English proficiency, computer literacy and vocational skills to make them independent and employable,” Dayanand Sagar Institute vice-president R. Janardhan told IANS.

Buoyed by the success of its pilot project in which 30 women in the 25-60 age group were trained and absorbed by 10 firms across verticals, the institute is commencing a three-month crash course from Jan 16 to train about 150 women in five batches of 30 each.

“We were able to rope in 30 women with and without formal education to take the course titled ‘Women Accomplished’ on trial basis,” Janardhan said.

“Though they were from different backgrounds, including college dropouts, they acquired the skills to be employed for diverse jobs with Rs.10,000-12,000 salary per month,” he added.

As a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative, the institute is subsidising the course to levy a fee of Rs.4,500 for the training course and offering its campus facilities for five days a week (Monday-Friday).

“As the majority of women will be homemakers or doing part-time or odd jobs, we have kept the syllabi and the classes flexible to enable them to spare three hours a day to acquire the skills, be it English, computer basics and vocations such as preventive health, first aid, skin care, maternity, diet, yoga and oral hygiene,” the vice-president noted.

The institute has structured the training modules with valuable inputs from diverse sectors such as IT & IT-enabled services (ITeS), call centres, factories, distribution networks, retail chains, small and medium enterprises and healthcare.

“On completion of the course at basic and advance levels, the institute will award the trainees with certificates. We will also arrange campus interviews for their selection by inviting companies scouting for skilled women,” Janardhan pointed out.

In addition to its faculty, the institute will invite experts from diverse fields, including those working at various levels in companies, to impart to the trainees the skills required for employing them suitably after the completion of the crash course.

“The game plan is to develop a training model that can be replicated by other institutes, organisations and corporates to empower women from across the social strata with employable skills and create a human capital in the long run,” Janardhan told IANS.

Computer literacy will enable the trainee women to open an e-mail account, write a letter using MS Word, search for information on the net and use social media to hone communication skills.

“With hundreds of educated men and women leaving the country every year for higher education and lucrative jobs overseas, there is a sudden ’shortage’ of skilled workforce in various sectors of the economy,” the vice-president said.

“If we don’t arrest the trend and reverse the brain drain, we will lose out to competing countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines,” he added.

(Fakir Balaji can be contacted at fakirchand@gmail.com)