AU Foundation, the CSR arm of AU Small Finance Bank (AU SFB), India’s largest SFB has partnered with Ambuja Foundation to launch ‘Future Skill Academy’ that will impart relevant IT skills among youth in Rajasthan. The new curriculum is a part of AU Ignite, the flagship programme of AU Foundation on skill development to empower marginalised youth of the state. Graduates (or 3rd year students) from Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths (STEM) background can enrol for this this 90-day training programme.
The IT sector in India has experienced substantial growth over the years with abundant employment opportunities. Therefore, after a thorough market research for need assessment, both the Foundations joined hands and prepared a new IT based curriculum to bridge the gap between industry demand and existing talent. The youth is being trained in data science, full-stack development and salesforce development which are the courses that are high in demand in the current times.
The programme is launched to commemorate AU Foundation’s five years of association with Ambuja Foundation. So far, altogether 7 skill training centres have been setup in Rajasthan benefitting 5500 rural youth. After successfully imparting skills for the last five years, the two foundations have now expanded their geographies to train youth of Jaipur, Chirawa, Jaitaran, Nagaur and Goverdhan. At present, AU SFB’s skilling programme- AU Ignite is running at 16 centres across Rajasthan having trained over 15,800 youth.
For the next two years, Ambuja Foundation and AU Foundation will focus on training youth for jobs like domestic data entry associate, accounts – debt recovery agent, associate – CRM and business correspondent, hospitality roles, accounts executive, general duty assistant, microfinance jobs and others.
Elaborating on the purpose of this programme, Mr. Sanjay Agarwal, Founder, MD & CEO, AU SFB, said, “At AU Small Finance Bank, we work towards building a stronger and inclusive India by empowering our communities. We have completed five monumental years of association with Ambuja Foundation for our AU Ignite- skill training program and I am delighted to see the impact that we've made. Being a tech led bank, our focus is always towards bringing the best forward in this digital era. Through the 'Future Skills Academy’, we are imparting IT skills to youth and sculpting a future where each empowered individual becomes a catalyst for positive change. Under our program, we look forward to training over 28,000 youth by 2025, so that they can empower themselves and the nation that we are serving. "
Talking about the partnership, Ms. Pearl Tiwari, CEO, Ambuja Foundation said, “We joined hands to bridge the skill gap and to prepare the youth to leverage the employment opportunities that the IT sector is offering. Skill training is an important part of Ambuja Foundation’s overall development program as we believe that skilling is the solution to the problem of unemployment in the country. With this partnership we are planning to train, counsel and guide the youth in becoming job ready. This year, our partnership with AU Foundation is entering its fifth year to continue imparting the necessary skills among the young members of the society. Under this future skills academy, youth is supported to acquire required skills to become employable and industry ready.”
As part of their Skill & Entrepreneurship Development Institutes (SEDI), Ambuja Fundation trains young individuals across rural India enabling them to secure well-paid jobs in various industries. Till date, SEDI has trained over one Lakh rural youth across its 35 centres with a placement rate of 75%. The program offers training in various trades from 43 different organized sectors. Basic computer skills, knowledge of functional English and soft skills are compulsory components of all training programmes conducted at SEDI centres.
