Samsung Has Funded 1,000 Girls For Technical Education: Deepak Bhardwaj, VP – CSR, Samsung India
Samsung has been assisting the youth through its Samsung Technical School, a part of Samsung’s citizenship initiative and aims to support the government’s vision to make India a global manufacturing hub. Women like Seema Nagar have come through the ranks of the technical school and now imparting the same education to the women in rural areas in Rajasthan.
Talking to Rajguru Tandon, Deepak Bhardwaj, VP – CSR, Samsung India shares some anecdotes about the technical education program, and encouraging women to grow in their career.
What are the employment prospects for the people skilled through Samsung Technical School Initiative?
Samsung India currently has 22 Samsung Technical School in partnership with the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) and Departments of Technical Education in different states such as Rajasthan, Kerala, Bihar, Delhi, West Bengal, Karnataka and Jharkhand.
These schools have so far trained over 2,000 youth and made them job-ready across different technical trades. Around 70 percent of these students have got jobs, 45 percent of them with Samsung service centres. Many of the trained youth have taken the startup route, helping more people gain employment under them. The initiative is part of Samsung’s ‘Make for India’ initiative and contributes to the government’s Skill India mission.
Students get real-time work experience at Samsung authorized service centres and other than technical skills, they also get a chance to learn soft skills which enable them to provide quality customer service.
How many people is the company targeting to enroll for the training? How important is apprenticeship along with academic training for career?
As part of the curriculum, the A.R.I.S.E.2 program provides students trade-specific training on various aspects of repair and troubleshooting for consumer electronics products such as mobile phones, televisions, home theatres and home appliances. Students get real-time work experience at Samsung authorized service centres and other than technical skills, they also get a chance to learn soft skills which enable them to provide quality customer service.
To help bring more women into technical education and to reinforce its commitment to the Government’s ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign, Samsung offers MSME-Samsung Technical School Scholarship for girls and differently-abled trainees.
Under this scholarship program, 1,000 girls and differently-abled trainees, who have successfully completed the basic course, are given a scholarship of up to Rs 20,000. This covers the entire fee for the Samsung Advanced Repair and Industrial Skills Enhancement 2 (A.R.I.S.E.2) program and helps augment the number of girls and differently-abled trainees at the schools.
Is Samsung’s Technical School Initiative part of the CSR program? Do you rope in people from training to work for Samsung?
Yes, the Samsung Technical School program is a flagship CSR initiative of Samsung and was started in 2013. Samsung’s CSR programs harness its legacy of innovation to positively transform communities and people’s lives while opening a new world of possibilities for them.
Under the Samsung Technical School, we have trained over 2,000 youth and made them job-ready across different technical trades. Out of the total, 70 percent students are working in different jobs, have got jobs, with 45 percent of them working with Samsung. The initiative is part of Samsung’s ‘Make for India’ initiative and contributes to the government’s Skill India mission.
How does the company avoid conflict of interest in lieu of the skill development mission?
Samsung Technical School program is part of Samsung’s ‘Make for India’ initiative and contributes to the government’s Skill India mission.
The 22 Samsung Technical School that Samsung operates are in partnership with the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) and Departments of Technical Education in different states such as Rajasthan, Kerala, Bihar, Delhi, West Bengal, Karnataka and Jharkhand.
How Samsung is encouraging technical education amongst women in rural areas? How is the initiative helping women attain the status quo and bring out the leadership in them?
The Technical School is one such initiative that has brought immense value to the lives of young students helping them fulfill their dreams. In spite of a growing awareness about the equal rights of women, the patriarchal value system continues to engulf the Indian society. Even today, across smaller towns and cities within the country, girls are not allowed their right to education, let alone work outside the realm of their households.
Samsung’s ‘Make for India’ initiative and contributes to the government’s Skill India mission. Last year, Samsung launched a new campaign film #SapneHueBade that showcased the true story of a young girl, Seema Nagar, from a small village near Jaipur, who, with her resilience broke gender stereotypes and became a trained technician after studying at Samsung Technical School, working with a Samsung Service Center in Jaipur, making her parents and family proud.
The story of Seema Nagar demonstrates how proper education and opportunities can help a girl child dream big. It also showcased how Samsung cares for dreams of girls in India. She was trained at Samsung Technical School, Jaipur post which she was employed at the Samsung Service Center in the city. Today, she has been appointed a trainer at the same technical school where she had studied earlier.
