Salaam Bombay Foundation launches DreamLab Initiative

On World Youth Skills Day 15th July, 2019, the DreamLab initiative of Salaam Bombay Foundation (SBF) was formally launched in the presence of dignitaries such as Tejaswini Adhikari, Chief Insights Officer at Future Ideas – Future group, Dr Ramesh Bhat, Dean – School of Business Management, NMIMS, Mr Vinod Kulkarni – Head CSR at Tata Motors Ltd and Mr Sandeep Sinha, Co-founder & Managing Partner, Lumis Partners and other DreamLab partners.

To mark the launch of DreamLab Initiative 100 internships were offered at the event in job sectors like Retail, Beauty and Wellness, Bakery and Confectionary, Mobile Repair, Home Appliance Repair and Market Research.

The ‘Learn, Earn and Grow’ model focuses upon providing youngsters with real-world internships that work as experiential platforms and help them make informed career decisions. From the industry perspective, DreamLab provides need-based semi-skilled interns to meet the cyclical and seasonal peak business demands of different sectors without them having to incur additional manpower costs during the lean period.

DreamLab initiative of Salaam Bombay Foundation (SBF)

One of the direct beneficiaries of the DreamLab venture, Deepika who was present during the event said of her experience, “DreamLab has given me the chance to create my own identity. Learning the art of baking in the industrial setting was a new experience for me. It gave me a flavour of how things work in the real world. To gain such experience at my age is not an opportunity that many get. I believe that my dream of selling chocolates under my own brand is now within my reach.”

Release of white paper: “Enhancement of Employability for Adolescents through a Continuum model that integrates Secondary Education, Skills Training and Internships”

Based on SBF’s learning and experience over the last five years of integrating skills with secondary education, a White Paper titled ‘Enhancement of Employability for Adolescents through a Continuum model that integrates Secondary Education, Skills Training and Internships’. was released. The white paper talks about addressing India’s skilling gap by enhancing the work readiness of adolescents through an in-school vocational training model followed by a continuum model that links the training with industry internships. This will enable the country to reap the demographic dividend associated with highly aspirational, job-ready youth.

Download the white paper: Enhancement of Employability for Adolescents through a Continuum model that integrates Secondary Education, Skills Training and Internships. Click here to download.

Though slated to be one of the fastest growing global economies due to its young population, India faces a severe youth unemployment crisis. An animated panel discussion, to start off the event, saw the issue debated by the esteemed guests – Tejaswini Adhikari, Dr. Ramesh Bhat, Mr Vinod Kulkarni, and Ms Padmini Somani (Founder & Director of SBF) – which was moderated by Mr Sandeep Sinha, each one sharing perspectives from their respective sector.

Speaking about the event, Gaurav Arora, Vice President, Projects (Skills & Sports), Salaam Bombay Foundation, said, “The White Paper offers impactful insights into how India can reap the best of its demographic advantage by integrating education, skills training and industry-based internship opportunities to its young population. The DreamLab internships have provided municipal school adolescents with experiential learning platforms otherwise inaccessible to them. This partnership between NGOs, the government, private sector and training institutes can together create pathways to progress.”