The inmates of Udayan, a home for children from Kolkata's leprosy colonies patronised by former Australian cricketer Steve Waugh, are now taking lessons in multimedia.
KOLKATA: The inmates of Udayan, a home for children from Kolkata's leprosy colonies that is patronised by former Australian cricketer Steve Waugh, are now taking lessons in multimedia and animation to make a career.
Aptech Ltd, a global learning solutions company, has joined hands with Udayan and Hope Kolkata Foundation (HKF), an NGO, to educate underprivileged and physically challenged students, some of whom have leprosy.
The courses in multimedia and animation, begun last month, last for three months each. Students in the age group of 11-16 can join the programme. The courses also include modules on communication, personality development and spoken English.
"Over 60 students from Udayan would benefit from this unique programme,
which would open up a huge opportunity for boys and girls to get jobs in the technology-driven market where competition is cut throat," Udayan chairperson Father Rev James Stevens told IANS.
The programme is a part of Aptech's corporate social responsibility initiative. The company has initiated the training through its multimedia-training arm, Arena Animation.
The training programme is based at Arena Animation's Barrackpore centre. All the students have shown great interest in the multimedia course, Stevens said.
"After the successful completion of the courses, students can also undergo advanced training modules at the centre," he said.
Shivnandan Pandit, an inmate of Udayan, has already won a scholarship to pursue a two-year full time course in Aptech.
Udayan children also participated in a sit and draw contest organised by Arena Animation and were rewarded with a graphics-training programme of three months' duration.
Aptech regularly conducts communication and personality development programmes for the primary level students of Udayan.
Udayan, located in the outskirts of Kolkata, is a home for children whose parents were suffering from leprosy. Besides Waugh, French writer Dominique Lapierre has also been its patron.
Children who attend the tutorial classes organised by HKF are also attending these courses.
"These types of courses are meant to increase self-confidence amongst the underprivileged students. Aptech and HKF have come together in organizing these modules which also place emphasis on communication, personality development and spoken English," Hope Kolkata Foundation director Geeta Venkadakrishnan said.
"This programme, which includes spoken English modules, has been of great relevance to me as it has given the much required self-confidence which I had lacked earlier," said Kalpana Shaw, a student pursuing the course.
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