Addressing Digital Literacy in Punjab
In 2020, the penetration rate of smartphones in India reached 54%, and was estimated to reach 96% in 2040. However, only 8% of Indian homes with a young child are estimated to have a PC with internet. Given this vast disparity, how are the young supposed to learn basic digital skills of working in an office and compete for the digital jobs of today and tomorrow?
Our Solution
To address this massive gap, Nishkam has decided to start a program in Sri Muktsar Sahib, Punjab, India that focuses on bringing young children and introducing them to some basic digital skills.
Details about this basic course:
In batches of 10 and a maximum of 3 concurrent batches, students are taught the following for 1 hour a day (Mon to Fri) over 4 months:
- The use of MS Office (Word, Excel) and Google Docs
- How to surf the web and use search engine
- How to create an email address and use email
- How to create a resume and look for and apply for jobs online
Your Support is Needed
The cost of each such student is Rs 2,000 (approx USD 28) for the entire 4 months.
Our aim is for the children to realize the scope of the jobs and careers available in the current digital economy.
100% of your donations go towards the payment of the student fees that have been negotiated in bulk with a private computer institute in Sri Muktsar Sahib.
Current Status
We started in Jan 2022 with a capacity of 30 students at a time and our progress has been as follows:
- January to April 2022 - 30 students at Sri Muktsar Sahib. Graduated.
- May to August 2022 - 30 students at Sri Muktsar Sahib. Graduated.
- September to December 2022 - 30 students at Sri Muktsar Sahib. Graduated.
- March to June 2023 - 40 students (underway) at Sri Muktsar Sahib. Underway
- April to July 2023 - 10 students (underway) at our new participating center of Garhdiwala in Hoshiarpur District. Underway.
Thus, since January 2022, we are on track to bring basic digital literacy to 140 youngsters in Punjab. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, we should be able to achieve a milestone of graduating approximately 190 children by the end of the 2023 calendar year.
We look forward to your continued support.