First LEED Lab programme

The US Green Building Council (USGBC) inaugurated its first Indian LEED Lab programme — a multidisciplinary immersion study course to educate and prepare students to become green building leaders and sustainability-focused citizens — in the Knowledge Institute of Technology (KIOT), Salem, Tamil Nadu, on June 29. LEED is the most widely used green building rating worldwide with LEED certification providing independent verification of a building or neighbourhood’s green features.

“LEED Lab is an important educational programme to make students ready for green jobs of the 21st century,” said Mahesh Ramanujam, chief operating officer of USGBC and president of Green Business Certification Inc, USA, speaking on the occasion. “By educating a new generation of builders, KIOT will help to build a sustainable ecology in India. The country needs buildings that perform better and improve and enhance human health. I thank the leadership of KIOT as both our organisations will nurture and train a workforce that will become essential to addressing India’s future building needs.”

Hyundai’s skilling contribution

At a media conference in Delhi on June 6, Hyundai Motor India Ltd, the country’s second largest car manufacturer, announced that it has expanded the scope of its agreement with 25 Central government-promoted Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) to contribute to the Union government’s Skill India Programme. The expansion of Hyundai’s association with ITIs follows successful completion of a pilot programme launched by the company in 2012. Almost 95 percent of graduates from Hyundai’s Skill Development Programme (2012-2015) have been recruited by Hyundai dealerships.

“Our alliance with ITIs and other vocational institutes, is aimed at reducing the skills deficit on the shop floors of India’s automobile industry. With this partnership, we are confident Hyundai will bridge the skilled manpower gap and help the auto industry to achieve global competitiveness,” said Rakesh Srivastava, senior vice president of Hyundai Motors India.

Rural learning initiative

The education ministry of Maharashtra and ConnectEd Technologies, an education-technology start-up promoted to provide hyper-scalable, rural-focused solutions, launched a new campaign named EkShiksha in Mumbai on June 16. The campaign will inspire socially-responsible corporates, NGOs, school managements and grass-root educators to eliminate educational inequity and provide world-class education to children enrolled in Maharashtra’s rural schools.

Under the EkShiksha campaign, rural schools will be equipped with ConnectEd Technologies’ robust, solar-powered Smart classroom systems designed to work in demanding rural conditions enabling “educators to easily integrate tailor-made multimedia educational content into conventional teaching practices,” to improve learning outcomes.

“I hope corporates, NGOs, school managements and teachers will support EkShiksha and the dynamic, young team of ConnectEd Technologies’ spearheading it,” said Vinod Tawde, education minister of Maharashtra, on the occasion.

Akshay Patra’s dream project

The Bengaluru-based Akshaya Patra Foundation (APF) has launched a new ‘Giving Every Dream a Chance’ project on a pilot basis. The programme was formally inaugurated by Sudha Murthy, chairperson of the Infosys Foundation, on June 11 in Bengaluru. The pilot project is a sponsored programme which will provide continuous support to 100 children, conduct mentorship programmes to nurture their talents and identify more children with unique dreams.

“This initiative highlights the link between food and education. Let’s end classroom hunger — meal by meal — and give every dream a chance, child by child,” said Madhu Pandit Dasa, chairman of APF, speaking on the occasion.

Currently, APF manages the world’s largest non-government, not-for-profit, mid-day meal programme serving wholesome meals to over 1.5 million children in 11,360 schools across ten states of India.

Skills Confidence Report

The London-based City & Guilds Group, a global leader in skills development, unveiled its first Skills Confidence Report — an international study of 8,000 employees in India, the United Kingdom, United States and South Africa — in Mumbai on June 20.

The study measures the confidence levels of the working population in these countries with reference to their skills and jobs.

Some highlights of the study: 91 percent of Indians feel threatened that their skills will become obsolete in the next five years; skill gaps in Indian organisations are highest compared to the UK, US & South Africa; 80 percent of Indian respondents are confident they have the skills required to work abroad, but 40 percent worry about the ‘brain drain’; 72 percent of middle managers in India are trained compared to just 39 percent in the UK and 45 percent in the US; India has the highest number of senior leaders who believe their skills are fully utilised by their companies. Moreover, 46 percent of Indian respondents believe that working in a multinational environment is important for their future.