Literacy India and Oxford University Press set up Education and Skill Development Centre for Women to make them Aatmanirbhar
The centre will upskill /Provide Quality education to 300+ women, Girls year-on-year to make them employable
New Delhi: On the occasion of the International Women’s Day, Literacy India and Oxford University Press (OUP), the world’s largest university press, dedicated an Education and Skills Development Centre to women. The objective of this centre is to make women financially independent by upskilling them. The centre, located in Gheja village Sector 93 Noida, will have courses in stitching & tailoring, beauty & wellness, basic computer literacy and basic English speaking. This centre will also offer remedial education to children who lost one year of schooling for lack of access to digital learning resources, with a focus on girl child education.
Literacy India and Oxford University Press conceptualised and set up this centre in October 2020, in response to the impact of lockdown during peak Covid-19 months when men in several single earning households lost their jobs in factories, offices and other commercial establishments. The centre has been semi-operational since October 2020 due to Covid-19 related restrictions but will operate in a full-fledged manner in coming months.
As a result of skills and soft skills training women from this centre are expected to find gainful employment or turn entrepreneurs, enabling them to better support their families. The first batch of women, who have competed a course in stitching and tailoring, were awarded course completion certificates on the International Women’s Day. OUP employees, including women leaders were present on the occasion to engage with and offer words of encouragement to the first batch of women completing their course.
Speaking about this initiative Sivaramakrishnan Venkateswaran, Managing Director, Oxford University Press India said: “At OUP, we believe in the transformative power of learning and education and this informs everything that we do. I am delighted that our charitable initiative with Literacy India will inspire progress and help these very talented women to realise their true potential.”
Captain Indraani Singh, Founder, Literacy India said: “Covid-19 created a big void in many areas of social sector, especially education for the underprivileged. Oxford University Press India rose to the occasion and increased their support towards initiatives aligned to SDG2030 Goals in the area of Skill development, Education and Digital Empowerment of women and children from the underprivileged backgrounds. We thank Oxford University Press India for being our Partner in this journey.”
OUP and Literacy India in the last five years have collaborated to support several education and skill development projects across centres in Delhi NCR and Kolkata. Last year, OUP supported Literacy India with the setting up of the Karigari program in Kolkata. The project provides skill-based certification course i.e. Certificate course in Computer Applications (CCA) & Course on Computer Concepts (CCC) to equip adult learners with technology learning. OUP India also worked with Literacy India to set up two digital learning centres during the pandemic – these have helped teachers to stay connected children while the schools remain closed due to Coivid-19.