OUP, Literacy India set up centre for upskilling women

NEW DELHI: A new education and skills development centre, set up in response to the impact of lockdown during peak COVID-19 months, aims at providing quality education to women to make them employable.

The centre was launched on Monday by Literacy India and Oxford University Press (OUP) on the occasion of International Women's Day. The objective of the centre, located in Gheja village in Noida, is to make women financially independent by upskilling them.

It will have courses in stitching and tailoring, beauty and wellness, basic computer literacy and basic English speaking. This centre will also offer remedial education to children who lost one year of schooling for lack of access to digital learning resources, with a focus on girl child education, a statement by OUP said.

Literacy India and OUP conceptualised and set up this centre in October 2020, in response to the impact of lockdown during peak COVID-19 months when men in several single earning households lost their jobs in factories, offices and other commercial establishments, it said.

Upskilling for women

The centre has been semi-operational since October due to COVID-19 related restrictions but will operate in a full-fledged manner in the coming months. The first batch of women, who completed a course in stitching and tailoring, were awarded course completion certificates on International Women's Day.

Speaking about the initiative, OUP India managing director Sivaramakrishnan Venkateswaran said, "At OUP, we believe in the transformative power of learning and education and this informs everything that we do. I am delighted that our charitable initiative with Literacy India will inspire progress and help these very talented women to realise their true potential."

According to Literacy India founder Captain Indraani Singh, COVID-19 created a big void in many areas of social sector, especially education for the underprivileged.

"OUP India rose to the occasion and increased their support towards initiatives aligned to SDG2030 Goals in the area of skill development, education and digital empowerment of women and children from the underprivileged backgrounds. We thank OUP India for being our partner in this journey," Singh said.

OUP and Literacy India in the last five years have collaborated to support several education and skill development projects across centres in Delhi NCR and Kolkata, the statement said. OUP India also worked with Literacy India to set up two digital learning centres during the pandemic - these have helped teachers to stay connected with children while the schools remain closed due to COVID-19, it said.

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