Mission to make tribal youth don leadership role

Visakhapatnam: Making use of virtual classes, tribal youth will don the role of leaders after getting adequately trained through a digital literacy programme 'going online as leaders' (GOAL).

The initiative taken by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) aims at connecting the aspirants located in nondescript villages and honing their skills through a nine-month-long mentorship course, including two months of internship in collaboration with the social networking giant Facebook and Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC).

With every institution moving towards virtual platforms amid coronavirus outbreak, GOAL intends to offer training required for the socially marginalised sections and help them become young entrepreneurs by facilitating establishment linkages for marketing through Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter and other social media platforms.

The nine-month long course is primarily centred on public speaking and building confidence; entrepreneurship and leadership; readiness and training along with digital skills literacy.

Elaborating about the training programme, Visakhapatnam district skill development officer of the APSSDC T Chamundeswara Rao says, "In addition to empowering the tribal youth with digital literacy skills, the focus is also on connecting them with domestic and international markets and guide them to explore business opportunities."

The officials concerned say that the programme is expected to receive encouraging response from the Integrated Tribal Development Agency, Paderu region, Devarapalle and Narsipatnam along with other areas in Visakhapatnam district.

"Depending on the skills, the platform gives opportunities for the tribal youth to connect with renowned leaders from various industries and bag a certificate from MoTA and Facebook.

The trainees will also get access to a smartphone with a year-long internet connection," explains Chamundeswara Rao.

However, in places where there is hardly any mobile network connectivity, there are plans to initiate the programme through other means, including recorded videos.