Subsidised Professional Training for Unemployed Urban Youth at Sophia Polytechnic

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Background

Nowadays, even the poor and those from the lower middle classes aspire to give professional education and training to their children in order that they may have a better future. Sophia Polytechnic, Mumbai, runs a number of professional, job-oriented courses. As these being professional courses, the fees are comparatively high even if heavily subsidised by the government. In order to make these courses accessible to the poor and marginalised we need to provide financial aid to such students.

Objective

To increase professional skills of students from underprivileged families.

Activities

To identify the needy students who require financial aid: Enrollment of marginalised students in professional courses (one fourth of the students). The financially needy students are asked to fill in a Student Aid Form and to attach along with it some proof of family income. These forms are collected by the Dean of Students, who scrutinises the forms and checks out with the teaching staff of the concerned department. The application forms of those considered eligible for financial aid are then forwarded to the Director who interviews the students and then takes the final decision in consultation with the Dean of Students. Students who receive the financial aid are asked to sign an undertaking that once they begin working they will return the amount received in financial aid from Sophia Polytechnic in order that the same can be then given to future needy students. The undertaking is not a legal document but it is explained to the students that there is a moral obligation to pay back in order to help others.
To find sponsorships to provide scholarships for the identified students
To provide professional training for young women and men: hospitality, art and design, fashion design, and media.
The Dean of Students and the Director of Sophia Polytechnic to monitor the academic progress etc. of the students who receive financial aid.

Outcomes

Those graduating from these courses get jobs; the institute also helps the graduating students with job placements.

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Information provided by the IND JPIC link person during the 2015 mapping process. Updated information in 2019.