However, one 19-year-old college student from Chennai is bridging the gap by offering free webinars for these students, with ample free time on their hands, to best equip themselves with the digital skills needed for the future.

Through his start-up, We Define Net, 19-year-old founder and CEO Selvakumar K will be hosting free webinars for students across the nation on a variety of topics on the digital sphere, such as Web and App Development, Digital Marketing, Ethical Hacking, Graphic Design, and an introduction to the Stock Market. The series is titled Workshop Weekend and will be held for three hours every weekend from August 10 to August 28.

“Many students want to learn how to navigate through the digital sphere, and our team are all engineering and technical students. Although COVID-19 has caused a lot of concern for students, this has also made them more understanding of the accessibility of the digital medium, and they, in turn, have better access to technology now. With this, we want to fill the gap and provide them of this learning for free,” said Selvakumar, a final year Computer Applications student at Bharat University.

Formerly, the team had conducted digital technology awareness programmes at public schools and wished to take the programme onto a larger scale. Participants of the webinars will be taught by industry experts on the respective fields. Students will be given the opportunity to learn a beginner, intermediate and advanced class at Udemy, an online learning platform, for certification.

“This will be very helpful for the students at this time because they can learn essential skills that will help them in the future. There will also be chances for them to get in touch with their mentors and create long-term business relationships with them,” said Selvakumar.