Education

One of India's biggest challenge as well as potential advantage is its growing young population. The average age of Indian population will be only 29 years by 2020 and India proposes to produce 500 million skilled workers in this timeframe. Skill development through vocational training is perceived as a major tool to prepare the Indian workforce for paying jobs. Our government has already started many initiatives through its various plans for skill development and livelihood opportunities for people in rural areas and priority is given where job disappears because of poor monsoons.

Muni Seva Ashram’s Vocational Training Centre is yet another example of Public-Private-Partnership with Government of Gujarat for upliftment of Tribal population.Tribal children after passing high school are provided 4-6 months of vocational training at the residential vocational training centre at MSA. Government provides 50% of the Rs. 26,390 cost per trainee while MSA covering the rest through the donor support. Under this partnership, our 1st batch was launched in July, 2011 for laboratory assistance course and since then, the centre has trained more than 1200 tribal students mainly in healthcare such as Dialysis, OT, Laboratory, pharmacy and Bed Side Assistant. These modular courses are of 3-6 months duration. As a part of "Save the girl child" and "woman empowerment" initiatives, 80% of our students are girls.

Salient Features of the MSA VTC training methodology:

• Pre admission career counseling to each applicant. We offer several career options to the applicants like Business Process Outsourcing, Pharmacy, OT, Lab etc.
• All courses are residential where students are provided full lodging & boarding.
• Learning by doing; 75% weightage on practical training
• Qualified and experienced trainers for all courses
• IT, Medical Record Keeping, Soft Skills and English is an integral part
• Special emphasis on developing team work, communication and planning abilities
• Counseling about Gynec and adolescence issues
• Sickle Cell testing and full medical support
• Free transportation to Vadodara during internship and interviewing
• Post training placement assistance, our placement rate is 75% and is steadily improving.
• Ongoing support after the completion of course

While running this centre, we come across touching and life changing cases and case of Asmita and Sumitra is one of them. Asmita & Sumitra Rathva are residents a small village in Chhota Udepur district of Gujarat. The family of 5 lives in a single-room hut and the parents farm in a government provided small plot of land. Asmita used to get fits and seizures for which the village witch doctor condemned her to life-long ailment. Unfazed by this severe verdict, Asmita joined VTC in 2016. While training as a medical assistant at MSA-VTC, Asmita was treated for her problem with proper medications including hospitalization at MSA-run KCHRC. Today Asmita is employed at the same hospital as a Physician's assistant. Her sister, Sumitra too joined VTC few months later. After completing her training at MSA-VTC, she is working at a respectable doctor's clinic in Padra near Vadodara. A wonderful example of women empowerment!!

The VTC will train about 7210 ST trainees in 303 Batches over a project period of seven years. For additional details, please view the YOUTUBE video.

Future plan:

Now MSA-VTC intends to triple the rate of graduation from 300 to 1000 per year. In addition to existing paramedical courses, VTC will launch 20 new courses in the areas of renewable energy, industry and agriculture. A new residential campus is being built that will provide residential facilities for 400 students, 20+ staff, several class rooms and laboratories. Construction for the new campus began in February 2017 and is expected to be ready for use in a year.