Udaan Youth Programme

The Problem

·        30% (OECD Economic Survey, 2017) of youth in India are not in employment, education or training (NEET).

·        Lack of awareness, access to opportunities and education, and low employability skills in youth results in unemployment thus, leading to a vicious cycle of illiteracy and poverty.

Our Solution:

Our Youth programme (16 to 22 years) at Udaan aims at empowering youth by providing them with relevant employability skills to make them meaningfully employed and act as catalysts to change the socio-economic status of their family. 

As part of the Skills Enhancement Programmes, we run two NIIT accredited computer literacy courses, to ensure youth are digitally literate. We also offer Spoken English Programme at Udaan which is an 8 month intervention aimed at training youth on functional English, enhance communication skills and confidence required in work environment. We partner with Antarang Foundation to offer the CareerReady programme that trains youth on work skills and provides linkages to internships and part-time/full time employment. We also provide financial support for youth to continue their educational journey, i.e. continuing education beyond grade 10, be it for mainstream college or open school, a vocational or professional course or coaching classes. Our soft skills programme enables youth to build skills like communication, goal setting, problem solving, critical thinking to deal with professional workplace situations as well as challenges in their personal lives.

Snapshot of the objectives of our programmes:

· Enhancing the core employability skills like computer literacy, communication, problem solving, teamwork, and critical thinking

· Enabling youth to make informed career choices

· Ensuring that youth complete their educational journey

· Mentoring youth to ensure their social and emotional well-being and learn relevant work skills

· Providing internships and work opportunities through partner organizations

We envision a Powai where skilled, confident, self-reliant youth from low-income communities act as catalysts in changing the socio-economic status of their families. Over the last two years, we have trained more than 500 youth in core employability skills. Our NEET ( Not in employment, training or education number for youth) of 2017-18 was at 9% and for 2018-19 at 3.5% as against the national average of 30%. We strive to better in the year 2019-20 and continue to keep the NEET number below 3%.

Snapshot of Impact in 2018-19

·    Enhancement in core employability skills of 154 youth in computer literacy, 239 youth in Spoken English in 2018-19

·    110 students financially supported for higher education in 2018-19·        

·    Udaan Alumni placed in sectors such as corporate, education, hospitality, para-medical and small business

Our impact story:

"While studying in college, I also completed several skills enhancement courses at Udaan. Spoken English Programme enhanced my communication skills and confidence. NIIT accredited computer course helped me become digitally literate. By the time I completed college, I could speak well in English and had computer skills too. Today I am working as an associate with a corporate - JLT, India. It’s an amazing feeling to be independent and support the family financially. I wish all youth like me get support to fulfill their dreams!" - Savita Mandal, who has been associated with Udaan for 10 years.

Help us create many impactful stories like Savitas!!