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With the global youth unemployment rate at 12.6 per cent and projected to rise further, the need to connect education to labour market demands is crucial. Given this context, it is only natural that growing attention has been focused on supporting skills development strategies for youth, specifically around the school-to-work transition.

Over the past few years, industry chambers like the CII, ASSOCHAM and NASSCOM have repeatedly pointed to the growing need for India to focus on such vocational training programmes to make the country’s youth employable in sectors where there are jobs requiring specific skills. LAHI’s initiative has been one of the most successful so far.

“I saw one of my friends running the New York City Marathon, and I decided this would be a great opportunity to raise funds for the children in India,” Raj Gilda recalls.

To be prepared for future skilled job growth, India must improve the skills of the existing and future workforce by increasing the capacity of skills training providers while simultaneously making programs more employer-driven to ensure higher quality, more appropriate training at scale. 

“For a nonprofit to scale in a country like India, partnering with the government is absolutely non-negotiable,” says Raj Gilda, a former Citigroup executive and the co-founder of Lend-A-Hand India, which provides vocational training and career development opportunities to young boys and girls.

The IBT education program in India better prepares students for future opportunities than traditional teaching.