SGBS Unnati Foundation Upskills 1 Lakh Youth Across 12 States

Bengaluru-based SGBS Unnati Foundation (SUF), a not-for-profit organisation, that provides vocational training and social transformation training for students from underprivileged backgrounds, has reached a significant milestone by successfully training one lakh youth across 12 states in this fiscal year 2023-24. 

Unnati’s training programme is primarily focused on rural areas, and it has more than 50 per cent women in the programme. The majority of the youth trained are from the final year of graduation in government colleges. The programme is currently executed by establishing MOUs with state governments of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Delhi, Maharashtra, Telangana and West Bengal. 

Commenting on this milestone, Ramesh Swamy, Director, SGBS Unnati Foundation, said, “This year has been very special for Unnati as we became the first NGO to be listed on the Social Stock Exchange. In this fiscal year alone, we have achieved the significant milestone of training 1,00,000 youth. The speciality of this 1 lakh has been the classroom model where the ChangeMakers (trainers) have actually touched the lives of these youth. This achievement marks a significant step forward in empowering individuals from marginalized communities, providing them with the skills and confidence needed to secure gainful employment and stand tall in society.”

Ramani MR, CFO, SGBS Unnati Foundation, added, “We would like to thank our CSR Partners for supporting us in achieving this milestone of training 1 Lakh youth. With their continued support and with support from many other partners, we aim to make a difference to the lives of 1 million youth across the country. Our heartfelt thanks to the education departments of each state government, whose collaboration has been instrumental in making this achievement a reality. We look forward to doing much more over the next few years.”

According to the 'India Employment Report 2024', nearly 83 per cent of the unemployed workforce comprises youth. Furthermore, the percentage of unemployed youth with secondary education or above rose from 35.2 per cent in 2000 to 65.7 per cent in 2022. The report further highlights that though enrollment in higher education in India is rising, the quality of education continues to remain a concern. There is a significant learning deficit at school levels and the quality of education provided by learning institutions remains inadequate. Unnati is actively working to bridge this learning gap and empower the youth to be job-ready or pursue higher education.

Unnati’s UNXT programme offers a comprehensive approach to youth empowerment with a specific focus on skills development. The program consists of 165 hours in classroom training, with 90 hours dedicated to classroom learning, covering essential subjects such as Values, English Communication, and Life Skills. Additionally, participants engage in over 75 hours of self-directed learning through a mobile app, encouraging a habit of lifelong learning. Conducted in small batches of 35-40 students, each session lasts three hours and runs throughout the year, outside regular college hours, within government college premises, and is offered free of charge.