Recent activity in India

Over the last one year, Roy Newey, A4e’s Group Board Director has been busy raising A4e’s profile in India. Together with Sidharth Mishra- Head of Development in India and Steve Marsland- Commercial Director, Roy has been in negotiations with a number of public and private sector organisations with a view to expanding A4e into India.

A4e signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals (ISAP) on 20th May 2008. We will work together to engage the government, non-governmental organisations, international organisations and corporates to encourage active participation in skills training. We will also deliver vocational and employability skills training, especially for rural unemployed youths. A4e and ISAP are in discussions with the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India for developing  large scale vocational skills programmes for the rural unemployed youths from the below the poverty line. We have also engaged the State Government of Himachal Pradesh for large scale skills training programmes.

A4e has been working closely with the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) in developing the Skills Development Agenda. A4e and CII signed an MOU on April 9, 2008 to pilot the Prime Contracting model for large scale vocational skills training in the State of Bihar.

In March 2008, A4e was empanelled to deliver a 3 month pilot skills development project for Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). The pilot will cover the states in the North-East of India and will involve training 2000 graduates and post graduates of the with the vocational soft skills needed to secure employment. The project will be delivered in partnership with our partner, Eduquity- one of India’s largest human resource assessment companies. We expect to commence this programme with Eduquity in coming months. 

In December 2007, Roy spoke at the International Skills Conclave in New Delhi discussing how India can tackle its skills challenge. Although the country has high numbers of University students, it currently has 82.5 million unemployable graduates due to a skills gap between the skills that employers need and the skills that a University education teaches. Roy shared A4e’s expertise of upskilling individuals across the globe with the Conclave. His speech received an overwhelmingly positive response and has led to discussions Governments, Foundations and Non-governmental organisations over last ten months.

On the horizon

Roy Newey will be speaking at CII’s Global Summit on Skills Development 2008 on 17th-18th September 2008. As a continuation to CII’s discussions and delivery initiatives in 2007, the Global Summit talks of strategizing for a larger audience, strategizing to make the growth inclusive and strategizing for Building People-Building India-Building Skills. Further, by aligning it to the 'Vishwakarma day', CII reinstates its commitment towards skills for all.

Roy Newey will be Chairing the Session on ‘Global Perspective on Skills – The Industry – Skills Connect’ at the Conference. He will speak on “Global best practices: Learning’s for India”, sharing hisexperience in employment and skills delivery in the UK and the impact on improving people’s lives. He will also propose potential solutions to India huge skills challenge borrowing from A4e’s own unique Prime Contracting model.

Please visit our stall at Global Summit on Skills Development 2008 on 17th-18th September 2008, New Delhi.