Y4D Foundation

The future world is going to be technologically oriented. So this project will work with the population that is still untouched from this facility. It will be an effort to make three crucial sections of our society ready for the upcoming digitized world.

Digital literacy will include-

• Basics of using smartphones and tabs

• Basics of computer

• Digital financial inclusion training 

• English classes 

• Promoting business digitally

Location- Rural areas of Maharashtra

Target groups and how their lives would get changed positively-

• Rural women can promote their business outside their local markets, and usage of digital literacy would create a bridge for their inclusion in the new digital finance system. 

• Students of Government colleges will be trained so that we can make a pool of candidates ready according to the future job market.

• Labor forces of unorganized sectors with digital finance knowledge can do all their financial operations by themselves.

Digital technology has an enormous contribution to education. Private school students are getting access to advanced learning tools, digital literacy, whereas government schools that hold a significant position in making education available to the masses are lagging in this matter. This is indirectly affecting our future generation as they would not be able to compete with the digitally skilled challenging world in the future. 

Y4D Foundation has implemented several Programs in the Education sector, its Major focus always remains to Empower Children digitally, especially children from the Grassroot area and economically weak backgrounds.

For training students and teachers digitally-

1. Y4D is Running Digital Training and Resource Centre with the Education Department, Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, Pune. A Computer Lab is established at PCMC Education Training Center Building, Karmvir Bhaurao Patil, Vidyalaya Building. It is dedicatedly operating and used for increasing the digital literacy levels of the students and teachers in leading towards sustainable development of the schools. The computer lab provides the latest cutting-edge technologies and tools to impart computer education to the schools.

The Major Objectives of the Project are: 

• Ensuring & improving the digital literacy of 200 teachers and 850+ students - Improving their computer skills 

• Making teachers familiar with MS-Office, internet, use of digital media and gadgets for ensuring quality education 

• Bridging the gap between teachers – computers, and students 

• Accelerating the speed of utilizing the digital platform in the teaching-learning method.

Through this project we are making the future generation ready for the digitized world.

So far, we are providing digital education to students and teachers through physical setups. Now we are trying to work with some crucial sections of society through digital mobile vans so that we can move from one place to another and reach the maximum number of beneficiaries. Our focus will in rural areas of Maharashtra and the beneficiaries will be:

• Rural women

• Students of Government colleges

• Labour forces of unorganized sectors

These sections are the most undeserved ones, and if they get the digital literacy knowledge then a major section of our society would be at par with the digitized world.

Training would be provided, which will include-

• Providing training on using smartphones and tabs

• Digital financial inclusion training 

• English classes 

• Training on opening and promoting their business digitally

This training will be for a duration of 1 month for every group and will lead to the overall development of the target groups starting from digital knowledge to English learning, which is necessary to know. The beneficiaries would be able to get jobs requiring computer skills, promoting their business digitally, and financial inclusion.

Rationale for Location

Rural areas of Maharashtra

 India is in the developing phase and not digitized fully which is utmost necessary for surviving in this technologically oriented world. There are several states which are very backward but if we come to Maharashtra, it is the third-largest state of India and contributes around 13% of the national income. So we chose this location as they can get numerous opportunities to earn money due by getting this training.

The rationale for the target population

• In this case, rural women are one of the most undeserved sections of society. They are trying to become financially independent but due to a lack of digital knowledge, they are lagging behind. If they get digital education, they can develop their business and finance part digitally. It would not let them get restricted to any specific place.

• Students of government colleges do not get access to advanced learning tools, so providing them with digital literacy will provide us with a pool of candidates ready for the future job market.

• Labour forces of unorganized sectors are deprived of digital knowledge and take help from different people for financial operations which raises the risk of financial fraud. If we provide them with English classes and digital education, the risk can be minimized. They can think of some other option for earning their bread.

Through this, you can understand how the problem, solution, and target population we described above are well-aligned to both the Challenge and our selected dimension.

Mr. Praful Nikam

President of Y4D Foundation

Digital education is important but providing it in the proper way is more important than that. Our education system is not job-oriented, it is more based on theoretical content than practical use. For this reason, students face problems in getting jobs. The same thing is going on with digital education, students of Government schools and colleges are not given training on this. However, the current job market demands candidates having digital skills. Therefore, we are framing this project of providing training to college students specifically in digital education, so that they remain ready according to the demand of the market.

This was for our coming generation, but we have to think about our existing workers too. So getting them trained with digital skills is also necessary so that they can survive in the technologically oriented world. Everything is becoming digitized, and many people are going hand in hand with that. However, the underserved sections of the society are remaining unknown from all this. So to make their livelihood sustainable, providing digital education to them is of utmost necessity with some more vocational training like learning English. Through this, they would be able to keep pace with the digitized world.

Mobile Van equipped with tabs, laptops, and other technological devices is the core technology that powers our solution. It will be able to reach the maximum number of beneficiaries.

The theory of change

Activities

• Basics of using smartphones and tabs

• Basics of computer

• Digital financial inclusion training 

• English classes 

• Promoting business digitally

Output

• Increase in rate of employment

• Increase in Household income

• Rate of unemployment due to lack of digital skills will decrease

Short term output

• Target population will get skilled in using smartphones and tabs

• They will have knowledge about the basics of Computer

• Beneficiaries would be able to do all their financial operations by their own

• It would be easy for them to use applications which are only in english.

• Women of SHG groups will get an idea that they can develop their business digitally and reach any part of the world.

Long term output

• The rate of financial fraud cases will decrease 

• A pool of candidates will be ready for employment according to the job market’s demand.

• SHG women will be doing their business not based on any specific location, and they would have customers from any part of the world. This will take their business to the next level.

Through this project, as we are focusing on training the rural areas of Maharashtra in digital education, the goal for the next year would be to cover the maximum rural areas of Maharashtra. We have framed a timeline for the training, each group will be provided a one-month training starting from the basics to the English classes. This one-month training will make them well equipped with the skills. In this way, we will be covering the state of Maharashtra in one year, and this is the impact goal for the next year.

Impact goals for the next five years

Our project is not going to remain restricted only to the state of Maharashtra, it will get diversified to different states according to the need assessment. We are using mobile digital vans for the training purpose which is having the benefit of reaching the maximum number of people as for many people especially women it is not possible to visit some other place for training. Therefore in five years, we are going to widen our area of implementation by intervening in different states.

Still now, in this project, we were working with students by aligning its focus areas with one of the United Nations Sustainable Development goals i.e. SDG no. 4- Quality Education. However, from now onwards we are going to work with three other more crucial groups in which our measurable indicators and focus will be different.

• By working with the college students we are focusing on  SDG no. 4- Quality Education with a target -4.4( By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs, and entrepreneurship).

• By working with SHG women groups, we are focusing on SDG no. 5- Gender Equality 

• Working with labor forces, our focus will be on SDG no. 8- Promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all with a target-8.2 (Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading, and innovation, including through a focus on high-value-added and labor-intensive sectors)

Through this, we are going to have various impacts on society, and overall we can say that our focus is on SDG no. 1- No Poverty with a target- 1.4(By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology, and financial services, including microfinance).

We are going to work with different groups of people, so challenges are also going to be different. In the case of women, cultural barriers will definitely come as in rural areas women do not have much freedom and have many restrictions. So providing them training is the second thing but first of all, motivating them to take the training is the first challenge.

Next, if we come to the labor forces, we will be facing some barriers as they do not know the importance of digital education. So at first, they would not show any interest in this.

For college students, there would be no such barriers as most of them would 

understand the importance of digital education.

Now, if we come to the financial part, being an NGO we do not have funds to implement our ideas which will benefit the society.

Your partnership can help us in the financial part to implement the ideas and reach out to the maximum beneficiaries.

Full-time staff- Driver, Helper, Trainer

Part-time staff- Manager, Subject expert, Digital Expert

In our organization, we have different teams having specified responsibility to achieve certain goals. Everyone is from different backgrounds having unique qualities within them. Some of the members work on the ideas of implementation, and some do the actual implementation starting from mobilization, execution, monitoring. Everyone is given the opportunity to provide their inputs and ideas during the time of designing and implementing a solution.

We have implemented different policies that lead to the fulfillment of the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

For this project, we are currently partnering with Alfa Laval India Private Limited. They provide us with funds to implement and run the project.

These are the following services which Mobile Digital Education center will provide:

• The vehicle will provide Access to Digital resources to the three groups.

• Provide Digital training to three groups.

• Deliver digital knowledge to beneficiaries

• Access of Digital Equipment to the beneficiaries

• Basics of computer training will be given

• English classes will be provided so that they can use digital technology where English will not become a barrier for those who are not able to read properly.

• Training on using smartphones and tabs for promoting their business on social media platforms.

• Training on digital financing

Lack of digital education is the most trending problem in society. Everyone should work to make the world digitized. So as we get to know about the challenge we decided to apply for it.

We have certain partnership goals:

1. Your financial assistance can help us in implementing our ideas for social welfare

2. We can reach out to the maximum number of beneficiaries