APSSDC, Facebook to train 5,000 tribal youth in digital skills

Tadepalli: Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) in association with Facebook India launched a programme called GOAL (Going Online as Leaders), an initiative by ministry of tribal affairs (MoTA) to digitally skill and empower 5,000 youth from tribal communities to become leaders of tomorrow by leveraging the power of digital technology, according to Dr Arja Srikanth, managing director and CEO of APSSDC.

He said in a statement here on Thursday that it was targeted to have mentors and mentees in the ratio of 1:2 with each engagement with the mentee will be for nine months or 36 weeks.

He said that the first month to the seventh month i.e. 28 weeks, the mentees from tribal communities will be connected to mentors and during 8th and 9th months i.e. eight weeks, the shortlisted mentees will get internship opportunities in reputed organisations.

The benefits for the tribal persons would be smartphone with one-year internet access, joint certificate of participation by MoTA and Facebook, letter of recognition by the mentor, opportunity to intern in a reputed private/government organisation, strong visibility and recognition at local/ state/national level, opportunity to interact with industry leaders and priority access to Facebook and MoTA events at state/national level.

The recognition for mentors under this programme would be joint certificate of participation by MoTA and Facebook, opportunity to interact with like-minded peer group including industry professionals, influencers etc., priority access to state-level events organised by MoTA or Facebook, profile will be showcased on portal as mentor, opportunity to meet business and political leaders.

Srikanth said that the eligibility criterion for the mentees would be any youth from tribal communities between 18-35 years of age who has keen interest in business, education, art, culture, dance, health, politics, research, entrepreneurship can apply as mentee.

The eligibility criterion for the mentor would be experts in the field of business, education, health, politics, arts and entrepreneurship among others and can inspire, guide and encourage the tribal youth to become village-level digital young leaders for their communities.

However, it is not necessary for the mentors to be from tribal or ST background as a condition to apply, he said.

For more details and registration the interested persons may visit: www.apssdc.in.