Dehradun, March 4, 2020: ICICI Academy for Skills (ICICI Academy) is an institute set up by the ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth to provide free vocational training to the youth from economically-weaker sections to help them earn a sustainable livelihood.
ICICI Academy has set up a centre at Dehradun in February 2019. This centre imparts free skill training to less-privileged individuals. It offers eight-week courses on ‘Office Administration’ and ‘Selling Skills’. Candidates who have completed the education of at least the 10th Standard and are between 18-30 years of age are eligible to apply for these courses. Further, ICICI Academy provides uniforms, meals and all relevant course material to the trainees, free of cost.
Since inception, the Centre has so far trained nearly 500 youth. It has tied up with Tally Solutions as the Knowledge Partner to help set up the course content for ‘Office Administration’. It has also tied up with industry partners to provide employment opportunities to the students after successful completion of their training. Renowned industry partners like PVR Cinemas, Axis Securities, Westside (Trent Ltd.), Easyday (Future Group), Brand Factory, Club Mahindra, among others, have recruited the successful students.
Saurabh Singh, President – ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth said, “We set up ICICI Academy for Skills in Dehradun last year with a view to providing vocational training to the less privileged so that they could earn a sustainable livelihood. The centre at Dehradun has provided free-of-cost training to nearly 500 candidates so far. A significant achievement of this programme is that 100 per cent of these young candidates who opted for job placement found suitable employment with various organisations.”
Since its inception in October 2013, ICICI Academy has set up 25 centres across the country and has trained over 1.34 lakh people of which over 56,800 are women. It aims to provide relevant and practical training to the underprivileged youth in 12 disciplines, namely: Selling Skills, Office Administration, Electrical & Home Appliance Repair, Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Repair, Central Air Conditioning, Pumps & Motor Repair, Paint Application Techniques, Tractor Mechanic, Two & Three Wheeler Service Technician, Retail Sales, Assistant Beauty Therapist and Home Health Aide. All the students are also trained in specific life skills such as etiquette & grooming, communication, basics about computer and financial literacy which help them adapt to an organised work environment. In addition to training, ICICI Academy provides uniforms, meal and all relevant course material to the trainees free of cost.
ICICI Academy reaches out to target segments through multiple channels depending on relevance in a particular geography. This includes conducting awareness programmes in communities, arranging youth counselling sessions in various parts of the state, taking the help of the state government to mobilise candidates, taking help from NGOs, evaluating referrals and walk-in candidates as well as references from employers.
