NIOS CENTRE ( NEW DELHI ) 

National Institute of open schooling

Ritinjali runs two vocational courses, which are affiliated, to the National Institute of Open Schooling, Certificate in Computer Applications and Cutting, Tailoring & Dressmaking. These courses have proved to be a boon for the people of the local community in Mahipalpur, who flock to the centre to acquire these skills.

The Center at Mahipalpur, which was granted affiliation in the year 2005 has been empowering the youth of the community with skills to earn a livelihood and stand on their own feet. Over the years, more than 60 students have completed either one of these courses.

CUTTING, TAILORING AND DRESSMAKING

In this course, some of our students, such as, Kulwinder, Santosh Kumari, Usha Devi, Suman Yadav, Sweety Bala, Ganga Devi, Madhavi, Nandini and Laxmi have started working from home and are gainfully employed. Some students such as Santosh Kumari and Suman Yadav earn upto Rs.3,500 and Rs. 5,000 per month respectively, while others earn anywhere around Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 1,500 by stitching clothes for the local community from their homes. Before joining the course, most of the girls and women would sit at home doing nothing, but now they have been equipped with skills to contribute to the family income. This has given them a measure of pride and a sense of fulfillment.

After completing the course, some of the students have opened their own centers and have also joined advanced courses related to tailoring. Delcina, one of our former students has opened her own boutique. Dipika, another former student stitches clothes for the personnel of the Paramilitary Forces. Babita Sehrawat, who recently completed the Tailoring Course from the Vocational Centre in Mahipalpur was able to enroll herself for a Fashion Designing Course conducted by the YWCA. Her tailoring skills were recognized immediately and Babita was chosen to design clothes for a fashion show at the YWCA. She has started getting offers from export houses and design firms.

Rashmi Chaudhary, after graduating from the Centre has been working as a teacher at one of our other Vocational Centers at Kusumpur Pahari (Vasant Vihar).

A significant achievement of this Centre is that all the students who have appeared for the examinations have secured more than 70 per cent.

CERTIFICATE IN COMPUTER APPLICATIONS

The students of the Computer course are not far behind. Sanjay, one of our students, started a Computer Center of his own after completing the course. Soumitra Mondal, one of the brightest students was appointed as the teacher at Ritinjali's NIOS Center after the previous teacher had to leave suddenly. Soumitra worked with us for almost a year but he had to leave in order to pursue his higher studies. Kavita Ghadge secured a job in a domestic call center. And many like her have been inspired to further hone their skills and have joined advanced courses. They now earn around Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 5,000, which earlier was a distant possibility.

The Vocational Centers have made many a young person's dream come true. The Vocational courses have brought about a marked sense of change in the lives of these people, who were earlier quite unsure about their future. They are now more than happy with the decision that they made and are living out their dreams.