JAGRITI – Skills Oriented Vocational Training

 

Project JAGRITI was a response by ANAWA Trust in August 2008 to a collective request for basic education by adolescent working girls, mostly working as domestic help. These girls had never been to school or had dropped out at an early age to either look after siblings or lend their mothers a hand at work.

For the first two years until March 2010 the girls were given basic education in Reading, Writing and Arithmetic (3 R’s). In Apr 2010 Vocational Training was introduced. The objective is being to expose them to alternate vocations to earn a living, that went beyond that of being a domestic help to becoming an asset to the family in enhancing family income and consequently the quality of life,  through skill-oriented vocational occupations.  At present thereof the three hours spent in Jagriti, their time is equally divided between academics and Vocational skills on a daily basis. Three paid Teachers for academics and a host of Volunteers conduct the skill development classes are 28 girls in JAGRITI. Spoken English and communication skills form part of the programme.

Vocational Training includes the development of simple skills of envelope and bag making, basket weaving, basic stitching, embroidery, knitting of scarves and shawls, Mehndi application, Beauty Culture and gift wrapping. They are encouraged to open Bank accounts and learn to operate them.

Over the years the girls have taken up assignments at weddings & festivals for Mehndi application, jobs in Beauty Parlours, providing such services to senior citizens at home, stitching clothes in their areas and for the family. An off-shoot of these skill development and earning abilities is that parents are not in a hurry to marry them off while they are still in their teens, and neither do the girls consent to such match fixings.

Some of the enterprising students have gone on to join coaching classes and sat for Class X & XII exams