Success Stories of Skilled Women from ASAP, Kerala

General Education Department, Higher Education Department, and Local Self Government Departments of Kerala State Government have jointly launched an Additional Skill Acquisition Programme (ASAP) as part of State Skill Development Programme to enhance the employability of students passing out of Higher Secondary Schools (+2) as well as Arts and Science Colleges in the state. Several students in Kerala have benefitted from this programme and found their livelihood. Here are a few stories of students and a trainer connected with ASAP.

Indiramani, Trainer ASAP

“Just fill those young minds with immense confidence and you’ll see miracles happening”. Enhancing Employability is what motivated me to be a skill development executive. There is no dearth of valuable human resources in our country; it is how we channelise this potential to be more productive is more important. Skill development is truly the need of the hour and i am proud to contribute to this noble cause.

I always believed in sharing knowledge and being useful to the society and my country at large. It all started on the 1st of August 2012 when many of the leading newspapers flashed the advertisement which read Government of Kerala’s skill development project requires trainers to be a part of ASAP (Additional Skill Acquisition Programme). The programme mainly aims at increasing the employability of the students in the plus 2 and undergraduate streams.

I am Indiramani.K.V and this is my story, a journey I am glad I embarked on and will cherish till the end. Like many other enthusiastic aspirants I too had applied for this post. I cleared the NAC test and the interview and got selected. I got my posting in the Government College for Women, Trivandrum. Girl students generally don’t open up quickly. There is that trust building exercise that I had to work on initially. The one thing which worried me was not being fluent in the local language which actually turned out to be a boon for my career. I have trained 4 batches of students and this is my 5th batch now in progress. My students have no choice but to communicate in English with me. This has boosted their command over the language in a very short span of time.

The satisfaction I enjoy knows no leaps and bounds as I share a deep bond with each and every student. Woman trainer in a women’s college, empowering girl students, an opportunity I must say made possible only due to the support and commitment of the ASAP Kerala team. My students have been placed successfully in many places in and around Kerala. Many of my students have shown outstanding results in the tests conducted by The British Council, which certifies their LSRW skills which helps them become more employable. Women empowerment is truly practiced here and it is great to see many youngsters taking initiative to explore their opportunities overcoming the hurdles of the society through these Government skilling programme. I must say skill development in India is in a nascent stage but a journey of thousand miles starts with one. This is a great beginning and will certainly propel our Youth towards a better tomorrow.