case study
ICT Training for the Masses www.aisect.org
AISECT, a Bhopal-based organisation, which offers ICT education, training and services to semi-urban and rural India. Through a network of over 8,000 centres spread across 4069 cities of India, the company aims to empower people and generate sustained employment for youth across the country
By Santosh Choubey
T
he NSS 61st Round results show that among persons of age 15– 29 years, only about 2% have received formal vocational training and another 8% have received nonformal vocational training. This proportion of trained youth is one of the lowest in the world. The corresponding figures for industrialised countries are much higher, varying between 60% and 96% of the youth in the age group of 20–24 years. Although this gap was always present in our country, the rapid growth of services sector and more recently the renewed thrust on manufacturing sector has suddenly brought the shortage of skilled manpower and hence vocational education infrastructure in our country to the forefront. Realising that skills and knowledge are the driving forces of economic growth and social development for any country, the government has taken the initiative of launching skill development as a national mission. At present the capacity of skill development in India is around 3.1 million persons per year. It is heartening to see the sudden interest that the skill development and capacity building arena is receiving from all quarters. This only shows that the task that AISECT took up 25 years ago, despite the amount of skepticism that our business model received initially, was not in vain. Since 1985, we have been promoting ICT based training and services in semi-urban and rural India to empower people, generate employment for the youth and unfold entrepreneurship based initiatives thus bridging the digital divide
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www.digitalLEARNING.in
AISECT’s Target Market Segments
and creating an inclusive society. The journey began in the mid eighties at a time when Information Technology was becoming a powerful technological tool in urban India, having the potential to change people’s lives altogether. However, 80% of India’s population living in the rural areas was oblivious to this progress and advancement. Thus, AISECT took up the task of designing an appropriate model for rural ICT intervention; a model that would reflect the demand side of communities rather than the supply push perspective of ICT providers; a model which does not depend too heavily on
Government or donor support but can survive on its own. Initially, we started the mission of spreading IT awareness in schools of small towns and villages of Madhya Pradesh. However, when requests from the local community started pouring in, it was decided to take our initiative to the next level and therefore Computer and IT classes for all, irrespective of age and gender, were instituted by AISECT. The organization was moved beyond schools and AISECT Centers were established at strategic locations in various towns and bigger villages of Madhya Pradesh. Grad-
Growth in number of centers and students between 2006-07and 2008-09 Number of Centres
8000 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0
Number of Students
7000
82,000
100000 80000
3609
50,636
60000
2857
40000
32,345
20000 2006-07
2007-08
ually, the network started growing and today there are over 8000 AISECT Centers across 4069 cities of the country. What fuels our network is that we cater to the huge demand of informal employment in the organized sector of IT and ITeS, something which National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) also points out as a huge gap area. In addition to the 2.3 million people who are directly employed in the ITeS sector (organised employment in an organised sector); there are scores of computer literates which are required in District Govt. offices, petrol pumps, bank branches in semi-urban areas, various showrooms and other retail establishments, a demand that AISECT has been addressing for many years now. Traditionally, we selected our target market segments in semi-urban and rural India, as this was a huge but largely fragmented segment still waiting to be tapped, owing to poor support conditions. With metros witnessing the proliferation of IT training organizations, the segment of youth living in Tier two and three cities, district and block level places still had no quality training provider, a gap which AISECT filled in successfully. Consequently, AISECT today is virtually the strongest national level player in this business of training across semi-urban and rural India, covering District, Block and Panchayat level places. We have till date trained over 1 million students across the country through a host of skill enhancement programs and generated over 10,000 entrepreneurs through AISECT’s widespread network. The AISECT model became a World Bank-IIM (A) Case Study in 1999 wherein it was listed as the only sustainable and scalable model for ICT penetration across semi-urban and rural India. AISECT’s unique value proposition arises from the breadth of its offerings. Through
2008-09
0
2006-07
various Academies, the organization provides a host of university certified Undergraduate, Post Graduate, Certificate and Diploma courses in the areas of IT & ITeS, Hardware and Networking, Banking, Finance, Insurance, Rural Management and much more. Its various academies include AISECT Academy for IT and Management, AISECT Academy for Hardware and Networking, AISECT Academy for Livelihood and Vocational Training, AISECT Academy for Arts, Science and Commerce, AISECT Academy for Insurance, Banking and Finance and AISECT Academy for Rural Management. The MoU that we signed last year with IGNOU is the first of its kind and makes AISECT’s range of programs unparalleled in the country today. Now all the AISECT Courses are available with an added advantage of IGNOU Certification as well. Besides, ‘Multi-Purposeness of an IT Training Centre’ is a concept which has been pioneered by AISECT in this country and has been our core differentiator. We have always believed that the infrastructure created by an entrepreneur for training of students can also be leveraged for delivering services to an audience larger than just the student community. Hence, the AISECT Centers also deliver qualitative and timely services including data processing and data entry, exam form downloading and results viewing, selling of insurance policies and collection of premiums, selling of recharge vouchers for telecom and DTH, ticket booking for railways among others. AISECT’s mission is to reach out to the remotest corner of India and promote ICT based training and services to empower people and generate employment for the youth. AISECT is now also looking forward to increase its presence in the Metros, with its unique bouquet of educational products.
2007-08
2008-09
To further improve upon the learning experience delivered through our centres, we have developed our own Learning Management System (LMS) called AISECT Online, which will be launched very soon. AISECT Online is the latest in series of technology-enabled innovations which AISECT has been implementing in the field of Education and Training for past 25 years. AISECT Online is a new-age LMS that will take full advantage of modern technology in further improving the quality of training for students and administrative processes for our learning centres, thus delivering a rich learning experience to our students. AISECT Online will empower students with anywhere, anytime access and foster a collaborative and interactive approach to learning. The biggest advantage of AISECT Online would be that it will bring all stakeholders of the vast AISECT community on one platform and develop a sense of togetherness amongst them. Over the next five years we plan to take the number of centers to 15,000. Through a carefully worked out plan, we have identified the centre opening potentials of each of the 600 districts of India and plan to implement this over the next couple of years. Our research has revealed that other developing countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Vietnam Nepal and Myanmar also exhibit similar consumer needs and these markets would also become our focus in times to come. \\
about author
Santosh Choubey
The author is Chairman & Managing Director, AISECT Ltd.
digital LEARNING
OCTOBER 2010
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