Adhyapana in the news!!

Adhyapana has been featured in the Indian Express on 29/8/07.
Following is the article that was published.The complete article can be found on the first page of Wednesday's (29/8/07) edition of the City express(Bangalore edition).



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Doing their bit

Wednesday August 29 2007 12:36 IST
Jaunet Gurudas
At a time when the IT industry is crying hoarse about the lack of an employable workforce and the State has taken a ‘hands off’ stand stating a faculty crunch, a group of young software engineers are trying to do their bit to polish the technical and soft skills of students.

Arun Kumar, Deepak Dhananjaya, Samarth Prakash and Shiva Krishnan, are four techies who graduated from RNS Institute of Technology in 2005 and formed Adhyapana in the same year, with the aim of helping students in rural engineering colleges.

Says Shiva Krishnan, a team member, “We saw that students had difficulties securing a job since those with technical skills lacked communication skills or vice versa. Since, all four of us had a common trait which was a passion to teach, we decided to bridge the gap by designing a short term placement training programme.”

The programme comprises of technical and non-technical sessions. The technical part of the course includes C, C++, data structures and microprocessors, and focuses not on teaching but helping students apply what they already know.

The Non technical sessions focus on resume writing, improving aptitude, polishing communication skills and preparing students to face group discussions and interviews.

Adhyapana conducted their first course at S J C Institute of Technology, Chikkaballapur, in September 2005 for mechanical and civil engineers.

“The feedback which we received after the first course reassured the faith with which all four of us started. Though it was a pilot project, our course had helped students in gaining confidence and realising their goal of getting placed,” Shiva recalls.

Now, they conduct programmes in two more colleges: Alpha College of Engineering, Doddagubbi and A P S Polytechnic, Somanahalli.

Another commendable effort of Adhyapana is that the team uses the fees collected through their programmes to provide scholarships to students.“Initially, we were conducting the programme for free. But, people started telling us that we should charge a nominal amount. Therefore, Deepak, a team member came up with the idea of using the fees to fund students,” Shiva says.

The team now funds the education of two rural school students and has contributed to the first year fees of four engineering students from APS Polytechnic.

About extending the reach of their programme, Shiva says that though they would love to, managing time between their jobs is a huge effort and they have restricted the programmes to weekends.

However, the team adds that talks are in progress with four more colleges.

Lending a helping hand

When we started with Adhyapana , we had decided that we will do 2 types of courses -the free course for the students of government and government aided colleges and the paid course (where we take a nominal amount for the course) for the students of semi-rural and urban colleges. The fees will be waived for any student who is unable to pay, due to his/her financial background.
We also decided that the money that we generate in this manner will be utilized for charitable purposes .
As a part of this initiative, from the proceeds of the training at Alpha college of engineering, we have decided upon providing scholarships to 2 deserving students. The first two scholarships will be given to two students of A.P.S Polytechnic college. The scholarship will cover the tution fees of the student for 1 year(2 semesters) The candidates will be selected by the teachers of the college.The criteria for selection will be both their financial background as well as their performance in their semester exams. We handed over the required financial aid to the teachers on 21/4/07.
We hope to continue with these activities ,with the proceeds from future trainings also.

The First Step

It all started during the month of September,2005 when we got the opportunity to do a placement training programme at S.J.C Institute of Technology, Bangalore.
With self belief coupled with anxiety we started. Though all of us were well prepared, there were a few butterflies in the stomach which kept us aware and on our toes. It was the day of reckoning, where what we knew we could do, had to come to the fore.
Though by experience(in literal terms) we were novices at that time, but we had a professional approach to what we were doing from the day it started.
The course was for 7th semester Mechanical and Civil students. It was a non-technical course, comprising Group Discussion, Communication skills, Resume writing, Aptitude and Puzzles. Well the students were apprehensive to start off with when they were asked to come and speak, but as the course progressed the students were feeling more comfortable to speak infornt of an audience.
The two day course for the mechanical and civil students came to an end. The feedback which we received after the two day course reassured the faith which all four of us had when we started this course that we could be instruments for guiding people towards realizing their goal of getting placed, as the confidence which the students lacked when they satrted the course was evident when the course was complete.
Though it was considered as a pilot project for all concerned, the success of the first course scripted a new chapter in the lives of the four of us.
Seeing the feedback of Mechanical and Civil students the college invited us to train the 5th semester students just a week after this course was done.
This was a statement which was loud and clear that 'Adhyapana team had arrived'!!!

The icing on the cake - conclusion session at Alpha

We have come to the end of another training session. It is always a relieving feeling to finish a course. Now is the right time for us to reflect on the training program and what we could have done better.
Every set of students present their own unique requirements and the challenge for us is to identify the requirements and fulfill them.
We had a relatively small batch size this time(a total of 49 students),but just as much fun. One of the highlights of our training in the feedback from the students. We insist on feedback after every day's training. We also have a separate grading system wherein the students grade us for each of the subjects taught. This has gone a long way in improving the course and course contents.
The feedback is also an effective means of gauging whether we have met the expectations of the students and what requirements we have not addressed. The final feedback session is held on the last day of training.
The feedback is an extensive activity, we take individual feedback on each subject as well as a overall feedback on the technical, non-technical and overall course. the feedback is quantitative i.e, the students grade us between 1 and 4 , 1 being poor and 4 being excellent. Following is a snapshot of the feedback we received from the students of Alpha college .
Average overall technical rating =3.20
Average overall non-technical rating = 3.33
Average overall course rating =3.4
The concluding session was made very special by the presence of Prof. T.S.Rajamani, an eminent socialogist and trainer and Mr. Sai Prakash, director, Erin foundation.they spoke to the students about the importance of hardwork and motivated the students to aim high and subsequently reach one's goals.
This post would be incomplete if we do not mention the role of the placement office Mr. Ramachandra .The entire process of decision making and approval was completed within a short period of time and we were able to start the course within a week after we submitted the proposal.We have been offered another course in Alpha college for the next semester students. We hope to help the students to the best of our abilities in the future also.

Women on Top @APS

One of the many fascinating aspects of the training conducted at A.PS. polytechnic college, was the boldness of the girls there. It was pretty amazing how we had to actually coax, cajole and sometimes force the boys onto the stage, but the girls on the other hand were quite the opposite. It is usually the other way around in most colleges.And this was, but only one of the many surprising things which we experienced in this institution.
This was the first time we were conducting a course for diploma students. The college being the Alma-mater of one of the Adhyapana members, made the course very special.
APS polytechnic is a government aided college, wherein you get to meet people from all walks of life.The campus is situated about 25-30 km from Bangalore on the Kanakpura main road.The college has old stone buildings set in the midst of greenery.
The course was organized by the teachers, who felt that a soft skills course would hugely benefit their students.On their recommendation ,we decided to conduct a soft skills course along with an introductory session on Blue tooth.
We were told that around 50 students would attend the session. When we went into the seminar hall, there were hardly 10 students. Slowly the hall started filling up. At the end of the session, we found out that actually 90 students had attended the session, almost double our estimate!!
There was a formal inauguration, followed by speeches by the principal and a welcome address.
The atmosphere was festive and the students were excited about the course. Arrangements were made for tea, lunch and snacks.
The course as such was a big success.We had heated discussions as a part of the Group discussions, sessions on resume writing and effective communication. The students actively participated in all the activities.However they seem to like the games the best.
On the whole we had a wonderful time and are looking forward for our next course at APS. W e shall upload the feedback details and comments as a part of the next blog.

Training at Alpha - Introduction

We have just completed 2 days of the four day training programme at Alpha college of engineering. Here is a brief report of our experience until now.
The college
Alpha college of engineering is situated at Doddagubbi, on Hennur-Baglur road,around 10 -15 kilometers from the city. The college has 4 branches in engineering and has been in existence since 2001.
Students and training
It have been a very enriching experience for us .The diverse group of students and the 100% attendance for the course(even though it was held during the weekend) has really impressed us.
It was a real challenge for us to make the students more confident of their abilities. At the end of the second day, after communication skills and GD sessions, finally now the students are opening up and are coming onto the stage to talk.
What was really suprising was the achievement and co-curricular activities of the students. Alpha has a full-fledged football team, which reached the semifinals of the VTU tournament. the co-curricular activities include music, dance, drama, gardening, tailoring, embroidery, cooking, reading, writing...
It was fun interacting with the students during the GD sessions. There were 1-2 near fights, innovative ideas and good participation in the activity.
However there is great scope for improvement. This was just the introduction. We shall write about all the details in the forth coming blogs