Bridging digital divide to make students job-ready
In today’s world, computer literacy is no longer a luxury reserved for a select few. It is no longer age-specific either— rather, it is a fundamental necessity across all age groups, social classes and educational backgrounds.
A nation’s youth is its future and in today’s digital era, digital literacy is a basic qualification. This understanding led to the inception of the programme. At Phulkari, we are deeply committed to addressing challenges faced by children — not just ensuring access to education but emphasising relevant, up-to-date and practical learning.
Through this initiative, students begin with a foundational course in computer applications and gradually advance to specialised courses based on their progress. The goal is clear — to make them as job-ready as possible.
We run two verticals under our learning programme — digital literacy and functional English programme. In digital literacy, the children are taught the basics of computers under Level 1, the older children graduate to Level 2 — which teaches more specific skills like Tally for accounting, designing — and Level 3 prepares them for placements. Level 3 also gives overall grooming for preparation of job interviews.
Launched in 2018 to help children of the lower economic bracket to move towards brighter future through education, 140 students have benefitted from it in 495 classes.
The other vertical is functional English, which trains middle and secondary school children in spoken English and communication to improve their future employability prospects. It is an initiative aimed at enhancing the language skills of young individuals in spoken English. The programme seeks to equip individuals with the proficiency necessary to effectively utilise English as a tool for communication. A total of 375 students from 11 school and centres have been taught by over 90 Phulkari volunteers in more than 310 classes since the inception of the programme.
Digital literacy empowers students who do not have access to technological resources with the knowledge and skill needed to participate in the digital world, to become industry ready individuals.
