Computer education and soft skills for the rural youth transform them to compete with city youth

An Introduction To Urbanisation

Urbanization is rapidly changing the demography and landscape of cities and villages, bridging them closer, and at an unprecedented rate. This fast-paced, evolving environment has the greatest impact on rural youth, who are expected to keep up with technological advancements, all the while becoming accustomed to potential professional careers in the city. With competition from city youth who have access to infrastructure and resources to gain knowledge and learn skills, the rural youth are often left out of the equation. Read more to see how you can make an impact in changing that.

The Main Causes of Urbanisation

Defined as ‘the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change, urbanization is a crucial factor that drives economic growth. This idea is supported in a blog post by LSE (London School of Economics and Political Science) which refers to this phenomenon through a phrase, ‘agglomeration economies’, which relates to the advantages of people and businesses being located next to each other. The people provide the vital human capital required for businesses to survive and expand, and businesses that provide necessary and quality goods and services to the people.

One of the three main causes of urbanization is industrialization. As societies become increasingly modernized, it attracts a talented pool of workers from around the country looking for better employment outcomes and the ability to make an impact. One interesting graph from the article establishes the well-known fact of urban areas usually has higher productivity levels compared to other areas. It shows that individuals situated amongst some of the brightest individuals in their industry, benefit from a ‘knowledge spillover’ that causes them to become smarter themselves.

Another reason is commercialization. Statistics by Down To Earth reveal that there is a higher percentage of self-employed people in rural areas than in urban areas (roughly fifty-four percent compared to just fifty-one). This entrepreneurial drive is key to rural youth looking to establish their family businesses in the city where the delivery of products and marketing tactics are both efficient and famous.

Social benefits and services are the third and most important part of this shift. The opportunity for access to better education, healthcare, housing, and sanitation are human rights and needs that many of the privileged often take for granted.

Need For Rural Youth Transformation

DDU-GKY, also known as Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana, is a program created by the Ministry of Rural Development to focus particularly on transforming the lives of rural youth aged 15-35 coming from low-income households. Their goal is to cater to the career aspirations of these youth with help from partners, to guide them to land jobs internationally.

As many cities across India, such as Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Chennai, are becoming information and technology capitals, the National Board of Computer Education Skill India was created in 2015 to better equip the current generation in rural areas. Their aim is to provide computer education to all – from job-seekers to average adults – to digitalize their lives. Offering computer courses that can last between 3 months to 3 years, they provide specialized training and certification on topics ranging from HTML and coding to 3D modeling and desktop publishing.

What are the basic computer skills for beginners?

Computer skills can be learned on an individual basis as well with some examples of basic computer skills are Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, in addition to new skills that have recently gained popularity such as social media marketing and video conferencing. Some basic IT skills include drafting and emailing clients, maintaining a company’s security and privacy, and search engine optimization (SEO), with advanced skills being cybersecurity and network management.

Resumes are often the first point of contact between a potential candidate for a vacant job role and an employer and are expected to keep up with current expectations of being digitally capable. While programmers are sought for their experience in creating websites and applications using particular programming languages such as Java, Ruby, or Python, regular individuals must showcase their eagerness of learning new IT and computer skills and their successful achievement in leveraging the skills to a real-life workplace scenario.

What are the 7 major soft skills?

Soft skills have become more relevant to today’s society given the digital transformation across cities and communities, which has rendered most unable to communicate effectively and clearly with peers and colleagues. Some examples of soft skills include decision-making, time and stress management, teamwork, and problem-solving.

Reason that soft skills are important because they especially help entrepreneurs in being able to find, attract and retain customers, and regular professionals in the workplace with their career advancements.

‘Can soft skills be learned’ is a question that is often asked because of the fact that they are intangible skills that come seemingly naturally for some, and after many tries for others. Soft skills can be taught and learned after proper identification of weaknesses of individual post skills and personality tests.

By being open to constructive feedback (or criticism) as well as decisions to change individual, instinctive behavior, you can learn soft skills. Just like hard skills, however, there must be practice, dedication, and a beginner’s growth mindset that can help individuals persist in the face of failure until the skill becomes second nature.

How Ebendavid Charities Can Help

With our UpSkill Centre, we help poverty-stricken individuals from poor family backgrounds in pursuing a training or skill-based learning course in computers, instilling skills with common accounting software as well as basic programming.

Our soft skill training is incorporated into our Tailoring Training Centre, as well as our Micro Skill Training Program, which teaches patience and an eye-to-detail as well as collaboration and communication when creating a piece of clothing or learning to make washing powder from scratch.

By donating Rs 2000 per month or a one-off amount of Rs 10,000, you can help us, Ebendavid Charities, in our mission of empowering the rural youth for their future. We are grateful for your contributions.