Making a living is the most important thing to be taken care of if you want to survive on this earth. The governments of many countries like ours are working very hard on creating employment among the youth. Microsoft has pledged to take up a similar responsibility, and the result is the launch of YouthSpark.
YouthSpark, which has recently been launched in India, has granted as much as 350,000 US dollars to two NGOs working for youth welfare in the country. It is amazing how two of the Indian NGOs, Aide et Action and Aga Khan Rural Support Program, received a considerable sum of 250,000 dollars.
This significant step was first taken in New Delhi, where the underprivileged youth between 16 to 25 years were trained for personality development, job preparedness, and spoken English. They will also focus on IT-enabled services, hospitality automobiles, etc.
Here’s how the whole thing works from each batch of students, a select few will be trained in a simulated set-up and encouraged to start their group enterprises. This partnership with Aide et Action, the first grant installment announced today, will aim to train 80,000 youth over three years. Of these youth, 65,000 will be aided in finding employment, and 15,000 in starting their enterprises.
The YouthSpark is the outcome of the 75 million unemployed youth the world witnessed last year. Out of these, 9.9 percent belonged to the South Asian region of the world. The report documents that about 20 percent of India’s population, or about 240 million people, are youth aged 15 to 24. Data from the Labor Bureau of India identifies unemployment rates in India at 3.8 percent. YouthSpark mainly aims at
- Empowering youth by helping strengthen education and expand digital inclusion;
- Unleashing future innovators by giving youth the inspiration and tools to imagine new opportunities; and
- Helping youth realize new opportunities of employability and entrepreneurship;
Speaking on-site at the first YouthSpark center, hosted in conjunction with NGO Aide et Action in New Delhi, Jean-Philippe Courtois, President, Microsoft International, said, “I am very proud to be part of the launch of this first Microsoft YouthSpark Center right here in Delhi.
I am even more pleased that this is the first of 10 such centers we plan across this great country over the next 18 months as we continue to find new ways to help empower our youth to change their world: to be the spark of change. We expect this YouthSpark center to allow 80,000 youth to be trained over three years. We hope 65,000 find employment through placement drives and alliances with potential employers – and 15,000 to start their enterprises.
This is the core goal of YouthSpark: helping youth access a wide range of Microsoft programs with the common purpose of supporting and serving young people in their quest for an opportunity.
GretI’m sure you agree with me. Let’s hope that this venture becomes a massive success worldwide and there’s no unemployed youth on this earth! Isn’t it a significant step to improve the prevailing condition of the developing and underdeveloped countries?
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