CHENNAI: Over 4,000 children of sanitary and conservancy workers, besides school dropouts, will stand to benefit if the Chennai Corporation’s plan to start Skill Development Centres (SDCs) across the city takes off.
The programme, which will be implemented by the civic body in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), is likely to begin in three months’ time, according to officials. The SDCs will be set up in Corporation schools in the city, as officials said the civic body was keen on maximising utilisation of its facilities - a much favourable scenario considering the fact that the Corporation only recently approved converting 12 of its schools into night shelters for the homeless.
Officials said that it had been decided to structure the programme in such a way that school dropouts would also benefit. Measures were on to identify ‘potential’ dropouts from Corporation schools, officials said.
“These courses will be for a duration of anywhere between 15 days and three months. So, candidates can enrol for one or many courses and learn multiple skills, which will better their chances of employability,” an official said.
The proposed SDCs will impart skill training making the candidate employable in sectors such as IT, automobile, retail and hospitality among others. Senior officials said that the CII would also help the candidates land jobs in these sectors.
“The funding for the programme will be drawn from the CSR fund of corporate companies who will be brought on board. But since it is a skill programme, there are also provisions to receive Central Government funding under the National Urban Livelihood Mission,” an official said.