Addressing the press conference on the launch of Vocational Academy(From Left -R
Bangalore : Every year, millions of young Indians pass out from schools and colleges only to join the reserved army of the unemployed, as their skills are not at par to the requirements of the growing corporate India, many land in odd and menial jobs, much below their talent and potential.
To address this gap, Vocational Academy India Private Limited, a joint initiative of Collabrant Group and STRiVE(an incubation of IFMR Trust), launched its services in April 2009, under the brand name VOCAD – VOCATIONAL ACADEMY , with the objective of bridging the gap between potent Bharat and a rapidly growing India, and to realize the dream of “Bharat Incorporated”
Vocational Academy intends to equip the rural and semi-urban youth with requisite skills in order to meet the expectation of modern India, while generating opportunities at the grassroots level. The emphasis is on providing a wide range of programs through a demand led approach to enhance and facilitate employability, career opportunities and entrepreneurship skills.
Mr. Srivatsan, Managing Director, Vocational Academy opines- “VocationalAcademy is more than just another educational institution. We are creating a movement to realize the dreams of the youth in rural and semi urban India. While the country makes great strides, it is imperative to engage our youth from across states, rural and districts in building Bharat Inc. These young Indians want to par`ticipate in the country’s success, and desire to have a rightful share of all the development. VOCAD is a platform for these youth to realize their potential and make an impact on our country’s burgeoning economy.”
Adding to that, Dr Nachiket Mor, Chairman, IFMR Trust), said, "When we talk about prosperity and development, we are talking about human beings; and human beings can only advance when they possess skills – skills that are relevant to the emerging needs of a rapidly growing economy that India is. Initiatives such as VocationalAcademy are focused on enhancing the employability of semi-urban / rural students who have finished formal education that did not give them the skills to get or keep a job."
With this in mind, Vocational Training Network Enterprise (VTNE), an entity incubated at IFMR Trust), has made a Rs 27.5 million investment in Vocational Academy.
Bindu Ananth, President, IFMR Trust, said, "VTNE is a venture that acts as a supply chain enabler in the 'first-time semi-urban / rural job seeker to the corporate supply chain’, investing in solutions that address the current gap in the demand and supply of trained manpower. Given this context, Vocational Academy is a very strategic investment for us."
Puneet Gupta, Managing Partner, NEF, quoted, "Given its non-cyclical nature, education is becoming a sought after investment for private equity investors. NEF, through VTNE, has in the past also made investment in a vocational education sourcing company, STRiVE, which provides assessment, counseling, apprenticeship, jobs, and certifications to rural / semi-urban students. We expect Vocational Academy to use the funds to grow market share by launching 50 centers by 2010, and having a presence in every district of the country by 2017"
Speaking on the occasion Suresh Mutyala, CEO, STRiVE said “Trained manpower remains the single largest impediment for growth in the service sector and we wish to fulfil that need through Vocad. To that extent, Vocad remains our most important investment in achieving our objective of reaching out to a million households in five years”
Vocational Academy India P Ltd under the brand name Vocad aims to bridge the skill gap and provide trained manpower to various emerging service sectors in India. Vocad offers special and tailor-made job-oriented courses, customized especially keeping present day market necessities in mind. Addressing the underlying problems of financial accessibility and practicality of the conventional educational institutions, Vocad has devised customized courses in various verticals like Emerging Businesses, BFSI and Technical at affordable fees. The average course fee ranges between Rs.5, 000 to Rs.7, 500. In fact, the fee structure is arrived in such a manner that it will be approximately equivalent to an expected month’s salary on employment. In order to ensure a fitment for a suitable course enrollment to the courses is through a Basic Aptitude Test which is administered to identify strengths, aptitude, aspiration and interest of the student.
VOCAD courses are devised by industry experts and are taught in classes of limited size, such that each student can gain maximum benefits from personalized attention with classroom interaction. A combination of hands-on training and faculty-led sessions prepares the students for the job from the first day / first hour. The courses also have frequent interactive sessions in the form of quizzes to test knowledge and update the students with the current market scenario. Students will undergo compulsory internship at the end of every course and will be offered jobs through Vocational Academy’s ‘Jobs Xchange’, for which the organization has tied up with leading corporates in the market and will keep tying up more corporates.
Vocad is currently being launched in 8 locations and working on a business plan of establishing our footprint in every district of India in 5-7 years.
