“I grew up watching my mother stitch clothes and scrub floors till her hands were red raw, just so we could survive. I wanted to pursue higher studies but there was just no money for that. So I took a course in Smartphone Repair and a fire was lit in my belly.

Aiming to equip rural youth with skills for livelihoods, Ambuja Foundation, working in rural livelihood and youth employment, has joined hands with Sir Mathuradas Vissanji Education Trust to upgrade its automotive training program. The Education Trust has upgraded the skill training infrastructure in four of its Skill & Entrepreneurship Development Institutes (SEDI) locations including Chhindwara (Madhya Pradesh), Jaitaran (Rajasthan), Sanand (Gujarat) and Farakka (West Bengal). This partnership focuses on advancement of the existing automotive training centres with BS6 technology labs and an upgrade of curriculum as per the market demand, to help improve the employability of trainees.

In Chirawa, Rajasthan, most of the women are bound to their homes, with families bestowing the responsibility for earning an income on the men of the house. But 19-year-old Monu decided to buck the trend by pursuing a career in Food & Beverage.

Born hearing and speech impaired, Nrishingha Malik faced a major hurdle when he graduated from his Sewing Machine Technician course at SEDI – how to appear for an interview to get a job? Something most take for granted, became a major blockage for the young man from Sankrail West Bengal, and he decided to turn his attention to kick-starting his own business instead.

SKF India and Ambuja Foundation announced the set-up of a dedicated YES skill training centre in Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad Gujarat. The initiative is an expansion of SKF’s YES (Youth Empowerment at SKF) program, which focuses on training, skill development and employability of youth across Gandhinagar (Ahmedabad, Gujarat), Sankrail (Kolkata West Bengal) and Pali (Jodhpur Rajasthan).

With an objective to support India’s young generation in obtaining job-relevant skills and livelihoods, Ambuja Foundation has imparted skill training to over 88,000 youth with a placement rate of 76% from rural and semi urban areas across 10 States of India, via its SEDI (Skill and Entrepreneurship Development Institutes).

Vikram Chouhan, Principal at SEDI Udaipur, has a problem on his hands. Hotels across the state have been calling him to fill 500 new jobs in the hospitality sector, and he simply doesn’t have enough trainees to fill the jobs!

Ambuja Foundation’s Skilling Centres (SEDI) across India, have welcomed various high-level dignitaries and guests over the last month. Whilst guests appreciated Ambuja Foundation’s skill training models, the visits created an opportunity for trainees to interact with, and grasp insights, from such eminent individuals.

Thanks to Sir Mathuradas Vissanji Education Trust, Ambuja Foundation was able to install a CNC plasma cutting machine at its Skill & Entrepreneurship Development Institute (SEDI) in Ambujanagar and Chandrapur to encourage girls’ participation in machine operations and manufacturing and an AI Lab in SEDI Bhagwanpur offering advanced skills to rural youth.

AU Skills Academy was launched as a CSR initiative of AU Small Finance Bank anchored by AU Foundation, to train rural youth in the region of Rajasthan. Ambuja Foundation’s SEDI acts as the implementing partner in training youth at AU Skills Academy, Jaipur.

The National Skill and Development Corporation under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojna (PMKVY) sanctioned Ambuja Foundation’s skill training institutes (SEDIs) to training 440 youth in the General Duty Assistant (GDA) course. 11 SEDI centres from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra have been selected to train 40 students per centre in GDA.

Despite the pandemic, the SEDI team celebrated World Youth Skills Day with much enthusiasm at all SEDI locations. With the theme, ‘Reimaging Youth Skills Post-Pandemic’, virtual events were organized at various locations with industry experts and partners sharing insights on skill training.