The prospect of speaking in English may have given them nightmares earlier, but not anymore. They are confident and are out to make a mark for themselves in their chosen fields. Sharing their experiences of mastering the English language were engineering graduates who attended a three-month skill development course offered by the Telangana SC Development Corporation (TSCCDC) in association with Tecknowlege Development.
Striding confidently to the podium and taking the mike, Prashanth said, “I hail from a poor background and though I did engineering, I failed not get a job. My communication levels were poor and I was frustrated when I got a call offering free classes on latest software/hardware. I am happy now that I got a job as software engineer.” He hails from a remote village in Karimnagar.
“I was my school topper in class 10, but because I studied in Telugu medium, I did not understand a thing that my lecturers taught me in the Intermediate. I cried for days but, with determined effort, I made use of the English-Telugu dictionary and got a hold of the language. I only want to tell my fellow students not to get disheartened as the next big opportunity is round the corner,” said Nagendra Babu.
Another student, Komili, is shy yet her language skills are dulcet. “Just when I was getting worried over not getting a job after my B.Tech, this course was a God-send opportunity with all the facilities provided and excellent teaching. I have been given a job offer from an IT firm.”
They were speaking at Boot Camp, a valedictory-cum-induction ceremony organised by the TSCCDC and attending by Welfare Minister Koppula Eashwar. They are the first batch of students enrolled in the course, who have bagged placements now.
“We are ready to skill the third batch of engineering graduates in tune with the industry needs as the first two batches have got 80% placements. While most SC students aspire for government jobs, there are a lot of employment opportunities in the private sector – IT, hospitality, airline industry, banking and health. We have tailor-made courses for class 8-failed students to engineering graduates,” said TSCCDC MD Lachiram Bhukya.
All the courses are free of charge as well as food and hostel facilities. While more than 4,000 students have been trained in various courses, about 3,800 of them have bagged placements in last two years, he added.
“It’s great that you are upgrading skills and providing jobs to the youngsters. This has to be taken to the rural areas too. Having good education and getting a job can change lives dramatically,” said the Minister.