by Suman Gupta
Mumbai 29April, 2023: Funfirst Global Skillers Private Limited, in partnership with Tata Institute of Social Sciences, held a successful alumni meet on April 23rd in Noida. The event was attended by over 180 participants, including ex-students of the B.Voc. programme, corporates, and academia.
The B.Voc. Course is a unique programme that has been refined over the years to build a career for students from economically weaker sections of the country. Students from rural areas of UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, MP & other states are supported to take accommodation in Noida and have 2 hours of session each day apart from On-the-Job-training at a related Industry Partner for practical knowledge. The programme is supported by Funfirst’s partnerships with Lava International, Salcomp, Panasonic, and Intex.
Prof Madhushree Shekhar, Dean, School of Vocational Education at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) said, “I am incredibly proud of the success of our B.Voc. alumni and their dedication to building their careers. Through our partnership with Funfirst Global Skillers and Knowledge Providers like Lava International, Salcomp, Panasonic, and Intex, we are able to provide unique opportunities to our students in B.Voc in Electronic Manufacturing Services, who come from economically weaker sections of the country. They are able to achieve their full potential through this programme.”
Apart from Madhushree Ma’am, Mr. Sanjeev Agarwal, Chief Manufacturing Officer at Lava International was the guest of honour. Other notable dignitaries were Mr. Shadan Ahmad, Senior Vertical Manager, TISS SVE, Dr. Pawan Kumar Chauhan (NIOS), Mr. Gaurav Sharma (Telecom Sector Skill Council), Col. Amit Mathur (BriskOlive), Mr. Parminder (Salcomp Manufacturing), Mr. Amardeep Yadav (Jubilant Foods), Mr. Sanjay Gupta (CFO, Mother Dairy) and the host Mr. Amit Gupta (Funfirst Global).
A total of 706 students have completed their three-year graduation programme (B.Voc. in Electronic Manufacturing Services) from the Noida center till now. The students are given a monthly stipend which helps them sustain and even support their families. All the students are placed in varied industries, with 3% of them even starting their own businesses. The average placement salary of the batch which completed their B.Voc. in Dec’22 was Rs. 18,716/- pm. 33% of the alumni are already at a salary of more than Rs.25000/- pm, which is a lifestyle change, considering that all the students come from BPL families. The alumni are placed in more than 68 organizations, prominent amongst them, being Vivo, Oppo, Dixon, Flipkart (F1), Micromax, Lava, Bharti, DHL, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Magic Bricks, Jubilant Foods, etc.
The ex-students had a great time meeting old friends and faculty apart from some informative sessions by the industry. Team Funfirst along with TISS is working on creating a cohesive Alumni for this programme which can support the alumni in lateral opportunities, upskilling, international placements, and entrepreneurship.
Funfirst Global Skillers Private Limited is proud to have contributed to the success of so many students from economically weaker sections of the country. The B.Voc. Course is an excellent opportunity for those looking to build a career in the manufacturing industry, and we hope to continue providing this opportunity for many more students in the future.
About TISS – School of Vocational Education (SVE): School of Vocational Education (SVE) –December 2011.
The School of Vocational Education (SVE) was set up to impart skill education to millions of Indian youth through appropriately designed vocational education programs. The focus is on developing job-specific skills rather than providing only a broad knowledge-based education. The approach adopted is called the Internship Embedded Skill Training Programme during which many students may also earn a modest stipend in select skill knowledge sectors. The aim of this ‘Work while you learn’ model is to enable the students to learn the skill by engaging in an internship on the real shop floor of the industry/company along with session in the classroom.
