Cutting-edge training and skill development techniques of The Jump Start open avenues for multiplying the employability opportunities for the graduate talent, says Mahesh Iyer, Co-founder & Curator The Jump Start, in conversation with Elets News Network (ENN).
What is the genesis behind the company? Please describe briefly about the solutions developed by the organisation to help education institutes for easy implementation of processes?
The Jump Start is a skill formation and an employability enrichment venture curated by industry professionals who possess extensive experience in the field of human capital formation through talent identification and development, academia affiliations, training and consulting.
Our Academia Solutions:
- Industry Outreach Programme – Our wide network of industry connects and affiliations guarantee a successful outreach programme for academia and help them improve their students’ job placement scenarios.
- Faculty Development Programme – The Faculty Development Programmes are primarily on life skills and future of education leading to effective classroom management impacting Faculty Satisfaction Level (FSAT).
- Teachers Capability Building Program – Our Teachers Capability Building Programme focuses on the 21st century teaching philosophy with emphasis on Communication, Collaboration, Creativity and Critical Thinking.
- Student Assistance Program (SAP): The aim of SAP is to provide continual and an ongoing consultation services to students to overcome barriers of fear, rejection, uncertainty about their career goals, disengaged situations, and others.
- Culture Assessment and Value Integration (CAVI©) : The Jump Start’s CAVI © model helps institutions to develop cultures involving behavioural change, sentiment analysis, culture surveys, focus groups and more.
How your solution help meet the challenges of a rapidly evolving educational landscape and promoting effective learning among students?
The workforce inadequacy is a blatant phenomenon yet to be manifested. According to the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), India currently faces a severe shortage of well- trained, skilled workers leading to gap in the demand and supply. It is further estimated that only 2.3 percent of workforce in India has undergone formal skill training as compared to other developed countries. A large section of the educated workforce has little or no job skills, making them largely unemployable.
The Jump Start team is committed to improve the employability quotient in the society by inducing a skill and value-based learning methodology, which is industry recognized and are aligned to the National Occupational Standards prescribed by the MSDE. We believe that the inclusion of Tier 3 and 4 graduate talent and the unemployed workforce to the mainstream will address a larger socio- economic challenge of our country.
We work as a conduit between academia and the industry, thus, assist institutions to improve their brand equity by placing the graduate talent for the right job by adoption of our skill formation programs.
Industrial Revolution 4.0 is much talked about term nowadays, how important is the skill and vocational training among the students for a better future ahead?
Mismatch between industry needs and academia output is yet unrequited. Research reveals that the graduates lack the fundamental skills required by businesses. Further, formal training of employees in basic business frameworks and concepts is relatively missing. It is imperative that we demystify the gap. The missing threads are confidence building, application of concept into practice and the efforts from the institutes to fulfill the requisites for helping students to sustain in this dynamic and volatile job market.
We recommend a three-pronged approach to fill this vacuum, namely:
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- Ontime skill assessment of students
- Adoption of learning interventions at academia level
- Soft skills
- Experiential learning
- Image Enhancement Programs
- Employability Enrichment Programs
- Induce industry experts to help build curriculum
How can collaboration with institutes across the world be helpful in implementing innovative ideas to impart skill and vocational training at par with the global standards?
The world’s largest stock of Scientists, Engineers and Management Graduates arein India, however, the helm to derive an economic benefit is the need.
It is increasingly evident for students to develop global competence as we see a strong global congruence. A global education may not be confined to just the research scholars, economist and other professions, rather, global education requires an in-depth learning and adoption of aspects associated with health and safety education, socio and economic issues worldwide, diversity and inclusion factors, etc.
One of the biggest game-changers in the global education standards will be to enhance the teaching staff capability in India. And to achieve this mission, it is prudent that the teaching staff must adopt the global education standards and continuously upskill themselves to make a difference in the education ecosystem.
Programs such as Faculty Development, Teacher Capability Building, and Student-Teachers Exchange Programs are some of the quick wins for the Indian education system to make a difference in the global education standards. Such programs will indeed help the students and teachers to overcome the paranoia of rejection in the global platform.
