PGCVT Batch 3 starts in Delhi, November 2014

PGCVT Trainees share their experience about the training

“We feel like we are with a friend or an elder sibling, when they are taking a class”, say our trainees in the Mehrauli Center, of our PGCVT (Post Graduate Certificate in Vocational Training) pass-outs, Sandeep and Sanjay.

The otherwise prosaic topic of retail comes alive and the classroom becomes a Retail Outlet, when they are facilitating. Our first batch of PGCVTians are interning in our centres across the city – demonstrating their classroom learning– from building a connect to the students to using Instruction Design principles to mentoring and coaching difficult performers.

“It was difficult to control our tears when the students invited us home for a meal. They say that we have changed their lives”, said Dharminder, a Batch 1 PGCTVian, interning in our Mahipalpur Centre. “When I started this course, I thought that this will be a stepping stone to Corporate Success. I now realise that this is the most satisfying job I have ever done”, said Praveen, our other PGCVTian in the same Centre.

PGCVT as a Course

PGCVT is a course which weaves elements of management and entrepreneurship into facilitation skills and community impact. While the target audience is people wanting to contribute effectively to the Skilling Sector, it has attracted aspiring entrepreneurs as well as those who want to join an MBA program/corporate after gaining valuable development sector experience.

However, as the Batch 1 students near the completion of their internship, we observe a definite trend – all the students, including those who thought they were in it for the short term, want to stay in this sector. They realise the enormity of the impact they can create, by skilling the vulnerable for jobs.

PGCVTians transforming the society

PGCVTians Shweta, Mehwash and Ahona, helped transform 15 beggar women, to self-respecting, economic productive women. The journey from destitution and helplessness to hope was filled with challenges for our Trainers. A month back, these women were homeless beggars on the streets of Delhi, given in to substance abuse. Today, they are clean, healthy women who realise the importance of working in a respectful profession. They are committed to ensuring a better future for themselves and their children. “We are used to the freedom of the streets. We would not have lasted even one day in the training centre, if not for Shweta Didi”, say all the women in unison.

The way ahead:

It has been a heart-warming experience for the PGCVT Team too. Our Batch 2 is ready to start in Patna on October 9. These trainers will be part of a large livelihood project across Bihar, after they finish. We are very excited about starting our next Delhi batch in November (applicants can write in to pgcvt@empowerpragati.in and check out https://www.facebook.com/pgcvt).

The good times continue.