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Lend-A-Hand
India launches PLAN 100, a project to equip 20,000 girls and boys
from 100 high schools in rural India with job and life skills
New York NY - August 15, 2005: Lend-A-Hand
India launched an ambitious Project PLAN 100 to start Basic Rural
Technology Centers in 100 high schools providing over 20,000 young
boys and girls with life and job skills.
This unique time tested model of vocational
training has evolved after 12 years of sustained grassroots efforts
by the NGO Vigyan Ashram located at Pabal, near Pune in Maharashtra.
The Diploma in Basic Rural Technology
(DBRT) program has produced 800 rural entrepreneurs so far and is
now ready for replication. The program has also received wide acclaim
nationally and internationally. The Open School (Distance Education
University) system has adopted the DBRT Program; the Government
of Maharashtra has also recognized the course as a complementary
program in high schools; and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) has selected Vigyan Ashram as one of the six centers around
the world for collaboration.
The Program equips high school students
in basic technology skills in engineering, energy and environment,
agriculture and animal husbandry, and home and health. About 40
different skill sets, suitable for use in rural environments, are
acquired. They include construction, fabrication, electrical maintenance,
solar and biogas technologies, motor rewinding, nursery techniques,
poultry and goat farming, compost making, soil testing, water analysis,
blood and urine testing, knitting, stitching and food preservation,
among others.
All the research, experience and success
indicate that the time has come to scale up the DBRT Program, by
making it available in more high schools reaching many more students.
This means thousands of more aspiring young men and women will obtain
the necessary tools to make positive changes in their lives.
To address the growing need of job
and life skill oriented education, Lend-A-Hand India has taken up
this ambitious project of scaling up of DBRT program which envisages
to change the landscape of rural as well as urban India. Lend-A-Hand
India support to the high schools includes training of teachers,
capital investments, operational support, and monitoring, and financial
assistance. To ensure sustainability of the program the high school
is expected to raise at least 20% of the total budget from local
resources. Vigyan Ashram will be active partner in providing technical
support and project monitoring.
The total cost of offering DBRT program
for approximately 200 students simultaneously while they are attending
the three years of high school education is $ 8000 in the first
year and $ 4000 in subsequent two years.
For more information about PLAN 100, please click
here or download the PLAN 100 Brochure
(PDF)
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About Lend-A-Hand India
Lend-A-Hand India is a non-profit
venture launched in 2003 by young professionals. It is based in
New York City and focuses on issues related to youth. The current
focus of its programs is providing vocational training, career development,
employment, and entrepreneurial opportunities for young boys and
girls in urban and rural communities.
Lend-A-Hand collaborates with dynamic grassroots non-profit organizations
to develop innovative projects and implement them. Lend-A-Hand India
is a tax-exempt 501 (C) (3) non-profit organization with chapters
in India and Dubai. For more information, please visit www.lend-a-hand-india.org
Media Contact
Sunanda Mane
+1-917-493-9000
sunanda.mane@lend-a-hand-india.org
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