Empowering youth through their teachers
“Career planning and guidance is important for adolescents and youth today. Our educational institutions do not include lifeskills and career counselling as part of the curriculum. Therefore, it is essential that school teachers and college lecturers be trained in this so that they can educate their wards and guide them,” said Ms. Vasanthi Rajendran, faculty head, Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development (RGNIYD), an autonomous organisation of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India, delivering the inaugural address at the two-day training programme for the lecturers of Ethiraj College for Women on “Lifeskills and career counselling”.
In an effort to empower the youth by catering to their needs and requirements, the RGNIYD organises such seminars in order to train the trainers who will in turn, impart their knowledge to their students. The institution believes that systematic implementation of counselling and career planning has many advantages.
“Our training module is activity-based and interesting. We are guided by the seven thrust areas mentioned in the National Youth Policy and also have taken into consideration the 10 core skills identified by the World Health Organisation,” says Ms. Rajendran.
The institutes’ Adolescent Health Development Programme (AHDP), sponsored by the United Nations Population Fund, had trained 1000 school teachers from Vellore and Kanchipuram district of Tamil Nadu in gender sensitivity and related issues. This programme is to be replicated in all districts in Tamil Nadu in future. “Apart from the AHDP, RGNIYD also liaisons with the NSS programme officers and Plus Two teachers and train them in career counselling. So far eight states have benefited through such programmes,” informs Ms. Rajendran. With the vast and complex data available the RGNIYD has also prepared a Youth Development Index. “This is a very important work undertaken by our institute and for anyone who requires information on various aspects of the youth population in India this report will be of great value,” she said.
Indian youth
“The Prime Minister of India will soon release the book titled, “One Source Reference Book on Indian Youth in the New Millennium” prepared by the RGNIYD. It is a nearly after a gap of 20 years that such a book on youth in India is being published. Earlier book titled “Youth of India” (published by the Ministry of HRD) was compiled by the director of Indian Council for Social Science Research, Dr. Saraswathi. The present book has also been compiled by her.” Ms. Rajendran said.
Chitra Deepa A.
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