Project Report: Bosco Plus Finishing School

Introduction
India’s growing job market corresponds to a growing population of youth ready to join the world of work. One of the demands of today’s market, particularly in urban areas, is proficiency in communicative English; for young people who have been educated through vernacular media this proves to be a small but significant hurdle to overcome. Knowledge of the English language is not always lacking, but speaking and using the language confidently is something that our young people aspire to for the means of securing a job.
Bosco Plus Finishing School is a two-month residential course designed to prepare young people for the workplace, with a special focus on English training. This year’s course was conducted in Don Bosco Technical Institute Hassan and enrolled 25 students at the beginning of the course.

Objective
The purpose of this programme was to enhance employability of students through intensive training and place them in jobs at the end of the two months. The course consisted of English, Computer and Life Skills lessons and included project-work, leadership training, games and cultural activities. This year’s programme had the added feature of community-living with DB Tech Hassan (boarders and religious) giving a new dimension to the learning experience to all involved.

Process
The inauguration of Bosco Plus took place on Tuesday 16th August and the timetable commenced shortly thereafter. The schemes of work were delivered primarily by 2 trainers and included a few life skills and computer lessons taught by guest trainers.
English Classes – These lessons covered a range of spoken, written and reading exercises delivered as group, paired or individual activities. Some of the main topics that were focused on were basics of English grammar, letter/email writing, phone conversations, debate, forming an argument, persuasive language, report writing.
A key topic of focus was preparation for the workplace: starting from the job-hunting process and leading up to interview skills and job offers. Students were taught how to prepare CVs, job applications and perform in interviews. Each student completed an up-to-date comprehensive CV ready to present for their first jobs.
Students were encouraged to actively participate in lessons through asking questions, presenting answers and contributing examples during the main activity of each lesson. Daily vocabulary lists were also given and assessed on through daily spelling tests – this helped to build up students’ vocabulary and their competency in using more varied language.
Life Skills – The main aim of these classes was to help students identify the soft skills they possess and are continually developing, and to be able to apply them in different life settings. This focus on identifying transferable skills-sets proved particularly important as many students were applying for their first jobs without any work experience.
These classes were mainly delivered as group tasks/projects and lecture style Q&A sessions culminating with a community service project where students were asked to plan an initiative to serve the local community at Hassan; and closing with their planning and coordination of the programme’s closing ceremony.
Computer Classes - These lessons were designed to equip students with basic administrative skills of using computers. Students were taught the basics of using Microsoft Office applications and were given a new job-orientated task to complete each lesson e.g. writing a letter of complaint, completing an accounts table, creating an advertisement publication

Activities
The daily morning assembly was mainly student-led with presentations of news stories from the previous day and morning talks delivered by trainers.
Students enjoyed games time each day (volleyball, basketball, cricket) and organized recreational activities from time to time e.g. Onam team games, competitions with DB Tech Hassan boarders (singing, volleyball, indoor games)
Our students also had the chance to initiate and participate in cultural programmes for institutional special events e.g. Teacher’s Day, Provincial Visit, Ayodha Pooja .

We had two highly popular trips this year, to the historical site of Sharvana Bellagola and an outdoor cooking experience at Kandali Farm. Both trips were very well received and successful in helping to build team-spirit amongst students.

Over the duration of the course a few students discontinued in order to pursue different career pathways; 19 students completed the course and received certificates during the closing ceremony on Friday 14th August. Most students, on completion, were able to make a smooth transition into jobs organized through BREADS - 9 students were successfully appointed in jobs with TechMahindra, Chennai; 4 with Tata-Yasaki; 1 with Mangalore High School; and the remaining 5 have opted to independently find job placements through family, friends and Don Bosco networks.