Innovative Secondary Education For Skills Enhancement

Intel Education Initiative (India)
The mission of the Intel Education Initiative is to accelerate
21st-century education for the knowledge economy as
a trusted partner to governments and educators. In India,
Intel’s educational support program is known as the Intel
Learn Program. It was launched in November 2004, as
part of the Akshaya Project in rural Mallapuram district in
collaboration with the Kerala IT Mission. The Intel Learn
Program is a 60-hour, hands-on, after-school-project-based
curriculum built around two core modules for learners
from communities that have no access to technology. It
taps into children’s interest in their own communities
while developing their skills and nourishing their curiosity
with creative, technology-driven projects. This project
has been implemented through 100 community technology
centers in Kerala. The program has been expanded
to other states and has benefited 48,000 youths across 14
states and union territories of India.
The program’s impact is illustrated by students of the
project in the Akshaya center in Kerala. Students used
technology to gather and analyze information from their
community and identified that the lack of playgrounds
was a high-priority problem in the Technology and Community
Module. This program has helped many students,
ages 8 to 16 years old, develop computer skills such as
Internet use, word processing, multimedia, graphics, and
spreadsheets; collaborating skills by working together on
projects, sharing ideas, and solving community problems;
critical thinking and problem-solving skills by building
projects that contribute to their community.
The Intel Education Initiative also organizes other
ICT-based programs such as the Intel Tech Program for
improving teaching and learning (which is very different
from traditional learning) and the Intel Computer Clubhouse
Network Program, along with the Intel Higher Education
Program. Intel organizes International Olympiads
and promotes other educational activities. The Intel Teach
program provides teachers with the knowledge and skills
that they need to create continuously innovative schools.
Youth for Development
Empowered with Basic Rural
Agro-Biogenic Technologies (India)
The Youth for Development Empowered with Basic Rural
Agro-Biogenic Technologies (Y4DEBRAT) model offers an
education program based on the assumption that current
models of secondary education in India have not successfully
controlled high dropout rates, controlled migration of
unskilled rural youth, or ensured the educational aspirations
of rural students for completing secondary education.
It further assesses that most of the current secondary
The Intel Learn Program taps into
children’s interest in their own
communities while developing their
skills and nourishing their curiosity
with creative, technology-driven
projects.
education programs are not based on the true spirit of
education designed to provoke and catalyze independent
thinking to cultivate indigenous ideas for wealth generation
through rural development, and that secondary
education is not teaching rural youth applied science and
technical skills.
With a desire to promote positive change in the rural
economy, this model aims for rural industrialization
on the premise that rural youth are potential agents of
change. The three components of the program are based
on youth empowerment, basic rural technology training,
and training for agro-biogenic technology. Overall, the
program focuses on creating sustainable livelihoods for
rural youth through empowerment, life skills and entrepreneurship
development, and ICT training. It serves as an
alternative to traditional secondary education.
Passport to Success (India)
The International Youth Foundation and Youthreach have
collaborated since 2003 on implementing the Passport to
Success (PTS) model for Indian youth aged 14 to 24 years
to equip them with a range of skills that help them stay in
school and get the education, professional skills, and confidence
they need to succeed in life.
Approach. The program, which was renamed the Udaan
Life Skills Program in India, provides vulnerable youth
with a life-skills education that is complementary to
traditional schooling. The curriculum provides students
with skills related to communication, leadership, reliability,
productivity, and learning, equipping them with the
confidence and motivation to seek and obtain employment
after school. The program also provides job training
programs for leprosy patients and their dependents and
vocational training courses for out-of-school youth, such
as street children, child laborers, and children affected by
HIV/AIDS.
Scale and Impact. PTS was launched in 2004 in India
and Mexico with a grant from the GE Foundation, and
Innovative Models for Skills Enhancement in Africa and Asia 51