In 1989, when a teenage Girish Kulkarni took positive action to change the destiny of one female sex worker and her family, education was at the forefront of his strategy. Today and our education projects range from a school and IT center to vocational training centers and a larger network of evening classes in the slum areas helping to prevent child labour and marriage. We know that education provides a safe route out of poverty and many of our beneficiaries are directly benefitting from these interventions. In our latest initiative, we are partnering with WE Global and the Rotary Club of Ahmendanagar to run German, Korean and Japanese language classes in the hope of attracting international businesses to our district. Classes are currently being delivered at our IT Center in Ahmednagar with priority being given to the students enrolled there along with our slum and women’s shelter beneficiaries. We are also conducting further classes for the older children at our Rehab Center and our teachers are receiving training that will allow them to deliver further language classes in the wider community.
As well as giving them a practical skill which will help them in their future, through the Make in India initiative, which aims to transform India into a global design and manufacturing hub, we are hopeful that providing a workforce with these language skills will attract up to 17 new companies to Ahmednagar District. With the estimated 30,000 new jobs they will bring to the region we are giving our beneficiaries an advantage which will stand them out from the crowd when these companies start recruiting.