AGENCY PROFILE

NAME OF THE AGENCY:

TNI NIIT (The NIIT Institute)

ADDRESS:

Affirmative Action Group

NIIT Institute of Information Technology
8, Balaji Estate, Kalkaji
New Delhi - 110019, India.
273, kuan Mohalla, Yughlakabad Village
New Delhi

STRUCTURE OF ORGANIZATION:

Neeraj Agarwal  Project Director

Sapna Moudgil   Implementation Head
Vivek Rana  Technology Implementation Head
Meera S Datta  Senior Consultant
Anjalie Chaudhary  Senior Project Manager
Kamakshi Bhalla  Senior Project Manager
Vikram Kumar  Project Engineer
Tulika Mehra  Manager- Community Connect
Rinnky Sharma Director TNI-NIIT

HISTORY:

When NIIT Foundation (NF) started in 2005, the mandate to reach the unreached, uncared and unattended
for ensuring inclusive development in India already existed. However, the starting point of the process was
still unclear. It was also important for TEAM to ensure that the initiatives were scalable and sustainable by
design.

TNI explored how various NGOs, the corporate sector and the government approached social development.
While TNI wanted to stay with Education and Training as the mainstay of agency initiatives, TNI identified
areas that had a crying need and could substantially be addressed by us. These TNI identified as:

1. Employability training for graduates in rural and semi-rural areas.

2. Livelihood training for youth in urban slums.
3. Better training in IT and IT-enabled areas for various not-for-profit organizations across the
country.

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TNI is implementing various prototypes with the intent to build scalable and sustainable models. At the same
time, TNI is continuing to expand agency areas of impact as TNI collaborate with CSR in the corporate sector,
NGOs and funding organizations.

NIIT Foundation (NF) 

NIIT Foundations is a not-for-profit education society set up by the NIIT group in 2005.

NIIT Foundation has a mandate to reach the unreached, uncared and unattended to ensure inclusive
development in India.

To shape the mandate, NIIT Foundation has begun a number of programs that would positively impact the
underprivileged of the country through various educational interventions. The intent of NF is to better
understand the education and employability issues at the grassroots level and build sustainable training
intervention models.

NIIT Foundation makes critical interventions towards upgrading the skill base and employability of
marginalized youth - in urban slums and rural areas.

AREA OF WORK:

 Employment generation.
 Education of youth and children.
 Technical education to youths for better placements.
 Educating girl child.

TNI-NIIT PHILOSOPHY AND MANDATE:

The NIIT Institute of Information Technology (TNI) is a not-for-profit education society setup by the
promoters of NIIT. TNI is setting up formal University at Neemrana, Rajasthan. TNI has a mandate to reach
the unreached, uncared unattended to ensure inclusive development in India, to shape the mandate, TNI has
begun a number of programs under its Affirmative Action Group (AAG) to positively impact the
underprivileged of the country. Sustainability of social initiatives is ensured when TNI look at inclusivity from
both ends -- for example, a model that focuses on employability of the poor and underprivileged youth -
works better if TNI can include the middle class youth and may be even the rich as well.

VISION:

To create an Institution of Excellence in the emerging areas of knowledge society to offer globally, seamless,
industrially linked, technology based and research driven, under graduate, post graduate, and doctoral
programs. To create talent to cater to industry needs in emerging areas like information and communication
technologies, life sciences, and educational technology.

OBJECTIVES:

1. Employability training for graduates in rural and semi-rural areas.

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2. Livelihood training for youth in urban slums.
3. Better training in IT and IT-enabled areas for various not-for-profit organizations across the country.

FUNDING:

The organization is a CSR and is funded by different international organizations as well as supported by
governmental funds. The TNI-NIIT also charges tuition fees from all the population to whom it provides
services. Individual donors also support the organization heavily.

COMMUNITY:

The community Govindpuri is located within South Delhi near Jamia Hamdard University Campus. It was
established around 1980s when the land was barren, nobody has to pay anything, and they just came and
settle down. Most of these families are migrants from Bihar, Uttar Pardesh, Bengal, Uttarakhand, Himachal
Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Nepal. In these slum pockets, a large number of these children are victims of social
and parental neglect. The population of the community is around 70,000-80,000. The community comprises
of around 8000 Jhuggis (Slums) covering 10 acres of land. The community is largely heterogeneous in nature
i.e. it is not evenly distributed.

PROJECTS/ PROGRAMS UNDERTAKEN:

1. Education through District Learning Centers (DLC)

India is one of the world’s fastest growing economies with 455.7 million job opportunities in various sectors
and industries. However, agency education system has been inadequate in equipping this work force with
the skills required by the industry. These skills include communication, attitude, problem solving ability, self-
management, cultural sensitivity or exposure to advanced technologies and their implementation. This
problem of skill gap is felt more acutely in small towns and villages of agency country.

The District Learning Center (DLC) at Chhindwara started on the hypothesis that it is possible to bring a rural
or semi-rural graduate to the same level of proficiency as the urban student by providing focused and high-
quality training. This change in students can happen in as short a period as six months or up to a year, with
the right mix of technology, training, industry input and experienced faculty.

The first DLC was inaugurated on 19th August 2007 at Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh by the Hon’ble Union
Minister Shri. Kamal Nath. The courses being offered to the DLC students are:
 Certificate Program in Basic IT
 Certificate Program in J2EE Technologies
 Certificate Program in Dot Net Technologies
 Certificate Program in Programming and Infrastructure Management
 Cisco Certified Network Associate Program (CCNA)

Beyond offering these highly skilled programs, the DLC facilitates learning for students by providing various
facilities, such as:

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Video-interactive sessions

It has been found that most non-metro educational and development institutes suffer because of the lack of
skilled and experienced faculty. NIIT Foundation bridges this gap with the help of technology by enabling
online video-based training and mentoring classrooms. This provides added advantages to students by
allowing access to the best of knowledge and intellect without moving out of their home town.

Reading room

To inculcate self-autonomy amongst students, TNI encourage them to study and practice using the facilities
provided in the reading room. The reading room has been found to be very popular since it provides
students access to the required resources and freedom to make best use of their learning.

Specialized CISCO lab

A highly specialized CISCO lab has been set up at the center with the help of CISCO. The lab facility allows the
CCNA students to get hands-on practice to facilitate experiential learning.

Guest lectures

To provide the best of experienced and qualified faculty, the DLC regularly arranges guest lecturers with
subject matter experts from the industry. The sessions expose students to getting an understanding of the
industry before starting off on their careers in these industries. The second DLC has been launched at
Barkuhi, Madhya Pradesh in February, 2009.

The first batch passed out from the Chhindwara DLC in March 2008. A total of 41 students from this batch
were placed with organizations like Infosys, ICICI, Genpact, Easypack Inc, LG Electronics etc. Till now, over
100 students have successfully completed their courses at this center and at least 70 of these have bagged
lucrative careers in various coveted organizations. Currently, more than 370 students are undergoing
training at the DLC.

Agency own entrepreneurs- Entrepreneurship program with CISCO

Four students from agency software development course were selected by CISCO for their entrepreneurship
development program. These students had worked on their own business ideas and submitted their business
proposals to the CISCO team. Now, their projects are turning into reality, and not only are they being
supported financially but also getting mentored by the CISCO team. These students have recently launched
their own company in Chhindwara by the name of Lakshya.

2. Career Development Centers (CDC)

Project Overview

The large population of underprivileged youth residing in urban slums either completely lack or possess
negligible vocational skills, which prevents them from taking advantage of the vast employment
opportunities in the cities of India. Therefore, despite high growth in Indian economy, the slum youth remain
unemployed or under-employed.

Since India became independent more than 60 years ago, millions of people have traveled from rural India
to urban locations in search of work and a better life. However, lack of skills, higher living costs in urban
areas, and larger/easier opportunities in the unorganized sector (menial labor) have forced these people to

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live in sub-standard conditions. Their living areas are labeled as jhuggi jhonpri (JJ) clusters or slum dwellings.
So although India is experiencing significant economic growth, the benefit does not trickle down to the level
of the slum dwellers and, as a result, the gap between the rich and poor is growing ever wider.

Some data regarding the slums in Delhi:

 The present population of Delhi is about 14 million.

 Of this, 3 million live in slums.
 Delhi witnesses a net addition of around four hundred thousand migrants every year.
 From 12000 slum dwelling units in 1951, the official figure for these units was expected to reach
three hundred thousand in 2005.

The NIIT Yuva Star Career Development Centers (CDCs) across the country would cater to the skilling needs
of the vast employable population residing in urban slums. Through this initiative, NIIT Foundation expects to
raise the target population’s status and living standards, leading to overall community development in the long
run.

Objectives and Goals

The CDC program focuses on setting up training centers in the urban slums of Delhi NCR with an aim to
benefit its resident unemployed youth. A CDC provides vocational training courses, with the objective of
providing employment in the organized industry to this youth group.

In the long run, AAG envisions the CDCs to be more than a vocational training center, with the following
aims:

 These centers will work towards providing supplementary education and motivating school students
at classes 8+ level so that they complete Class 12 successfully.
 The CDCs would also run evening classes for not just imparting further vocational skills as well as
professional life skills for ex-CDC students to look at higher levels of employment but also for empowering
the women in the community by offering them short term courses in English Communication and Basic
Computers.

NIIT Foundation will use the process to also create a sustainable model and replicate such centers across the
metros in India.

Program Achievement

The CDC program is still in its nascent stage since the first center was launched in August 2008.

 22 CDCs are already functional at Delhi-NCR & Jaipur.

 10 more CDCs will be operational by December 2010.
 TNI have already impacted lives of over 7000 youth through agency training.
 80% of eligible students placed in large companies all over Delhi-NCR.
 TNI offered courses on Retail, Basic IT, English & Tally.
 Launched Sports and Theatre in Education Program in the centers.

3. Professional skills program for university students (DU-CII Project)

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Out of the total population of youth that graduates annually from agency universities, less than 1 percent is
considered employable by the industry. Additionally, 90% of the available employment opportunities require
some kind of vocational training, and agency education system is struggling to keep pace with these industry
requirements. So while TNI have unskilled youth on one side, on the other TNI also have industries reeling
under the pressure of lack of skilled labor. This poor quality of skills shows up in low incomes; a staggering
58% of graduates make less than Rs 75,000 per year. This gap between ‘Education’ and ‘Employability’ is
quite detrimental to the growth of agency nation.

Program DU-CII Project is an initiative to ‘zap-the-gaps’ between ‘Education’ and ‘Employability’. It aims at
developing professional programs for university students to help them gain the necessary employability
skills. These certificate programs have been developed in collaboration with industry experts. The programs
not only equip the students in industrial, professional and communication skills, but also enhance their
employability matrix. Therefore, the students can take advantage of and participate in the booming Indian
economy.

The courses launched under DU-CII Project are:

•Certificate Program in Automobile Component Service, Sales & Management

•Certificate Program in Retail Management
•Certificate Program in Software Application Development
•Certificate Program in Desktop Deployment and Troubleshooting
•Certificate Program in General Service

The first phase of the program has been launched with the University of Delhi (DU) at Keshavpuram Campus
of open learning center. All the students from the first batch of the retail management course received 100%
internship offers. The students from the first batches of automobile and software application have started
their internship in January 2009

4. Science for school children

The Problem

Smart children from the rural and semi-rural areas face the disadvantage of not having access to effective
secondary education and are hence unable to enter the higher education domain. This leads to an indirect loss
of intellectual capital to the nation.

The Solution

NIIT Foundation has initiated activities identify and provide the necessary support to smart children entering
secondary education (Class 8/13-14years) in terms of supplemental training so that they pursue main stream
higher education. The targeted area is science education to improve scientific and analytical abilities of smart
children. Several specially designed science kits along with specially designed activities will be used in
workshop mode to:

1. Identify smart children from semi-rural schools

2. Inculcate a scientific and analytical bent of mind in these children and bring back fun into science
learning

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The CAX Approach

There exist in the IT-enabled science education market, computer-based training packages (CBTs) that allow a
student to use the computer as a learning tool. There also exist computer based instruments (data loggers)
that allow a student to use the computer as a measuring/data logging tool. The former gives access to theory
with no scope for experimentation and observation while the latter allows only experimentation and does not
give access to theory.

Integrating computer-based instruments with computer-based instruction can bring about a radical shift in the
way science is taught. It would allow the student to both study theory and perform experiments to verify
theory at the computer itself leading to several advantages, the most important being a new way of designing
lessons that places the student in the shoes of a scientist.

The Components

A typical Computer Assisted Experimentation package consists of:

 The PC-based Instrument - measures real world parameters such as voltage, temperature, current,
etc. and is interfaced to the computer.
 The Experimental Kit consists specially designed lab equipment to be used in conjunction with the PC-
based instrument.
 The Computer-based Lesson CBTs that can communicate with the PC-based instrument.

The Advantages

From the learner's point of view

 Allows students to learn as well as conduct experiments at the computer itself.

 Eliminates delay between theory and practice.
 Frees students from tedious data capturing so that they can concentrate on observing and inferring.

From the teacher's point of view.

 A powerful tool to demonstrate science to students.

 Frees teacher from "lecturing".

From the school's point of view

 A low cost science station.

 Value addition to already existing computers.

The Product

The Centre for Research in Cognitive Systems (CRCS), a research wing of NIIT Foundation, conceptualized and
created three CAX kits "Electricity, Heat and Sound" addressing the needs of Class 7 to Class 10. The
technology is marketed by NIIT K-12, a division of NIIT Ltd. A unique feature of CAX is that the lesson
constantly monitors the experiment being done, detects if the student makes any mistake and gives

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appropriate feedback.

The Electricity Series

The Electricity Series consists of an electricity board and components, a data capture and control unit and a
computer-based lesson. The computer-based lesson includes a set of experiments and exercises involving
measuring of current and voltage. These experiments are graded so that the child can progress from
constructing simple to complex circuits.

The Heat Series

The Heat Series consists of conveniently packaged components to perform experiments such as Newton's
Law of Cooling, Good and Bad conductors, etc. The package allows plotting of two temperature channels
simultaneously thus aiding understanding and reducing experiment time.

The Sound Series

To bring out the scientist in each child, the Sound Series has been designed to excite students, interest and
instruct them in the basics of scientific method: observation, experimentation, and deduction. Hence each
experiment has been designed based on the nature of experiment. Students can do experiments such as
Determining the Speed of Sound and Finding your Hearing Range with ease.

5. NGO Accreditation

India has thousands of NGO involved in providing education and training to the underprivileged youth in
both rural and urban areas. Many of them are having infrastructure in place but they lack in providing
quality and structured education to their students and certified & quality trainer is also not available in most
of the places.

To address this problem, NIIT Foundation (a not-for-profit education society) launched an initiative by
offering services to NGOs focusing on education and training underprivileged youth. This initiative includes
pre-assessments, post-assessments and certification to the students and training & certification for
teachers.

This program quips teachers and students with the latest competitive modules which are proven effective in
the current industry. Students upon completion of the course are also presented certification by NIIT
Foundation, which helps the NGO in placements of its students.

NIIT Foundation invites NGOs to use these services when as per need. The programs can be catered to the
need of the NGO keeping certain necessary structural elements intact.

What TNI offer:

 Train the Trainer Program

 Certification to the Trainer
 Quality Packaged Courseware on Basic IT *
 Trainer Guide for Basic IT course
 Certification to the Students

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*Packaged Courseware contains Student Bag, Courseware, Note-book, Pen etc.

How does the program work:

 Identify and select the NGO

 Sign MOU with the selected NGO
 Training and Certification for the faculty
 Formation of the batch of students
 Delivery of the mapped courseware
 Identify and select the Internal assessment and Attendance NGO
 Final assessment & certification

How NGO will get benefited:

 Association with NIIT Foundation

 Training and Certification for faculty & students
 Students placement where required

How Students will get benefited:

 Structured course and tested quality

 Classes by certified faculty
 World-wide recognized certification from NIIT Foundation
 Eligible to study further in NIIT Yuva Star Centers

Some Existing Partners:

 Noida Deaf Society

 IAS Officers’ Wives Association
 Srishti welfare Society
 Jubilant Bhartia Foundation
 BICODEP (Rotary International)

6. Programs for people with Disabilities

Programs for Deaf Youth in collaboration with Noida Deaf Society (NDS)

It is estimated that over 15 million Indians are hearing impaired and 80% of such individuals do not receive
any formal education. There are only 500 schools that cater to this population; as a result, formal education
continues to be a far-fetched dream for these youth. With no formal education, their chances for pursuing
careers in the organized sectors are virtually “NIL”. As a consequence, they are destined to do manual work
that does not require analytical or logical skills.

With its pioneer initiative, Noida Deaf Society (NDS) and NIIT Foundation brought computer literacy to the
hearing impaired youth of the NDS. NDS has launched two courses along with NIIT Foundation’s support:

Certificate course in multimedia and desktop publishing, Certificate course in MS-Office. The overarching aim
of these courses is to increase the number of employment opportunities available to these students.

P Rajendran awarding certificates to NDS students at the formal ceremony.

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The first batch of 18 students successfully completed the desktop publishing and multi-media course in
December 2007.Out of this batch, 6 outstanding students were selected via NIIT’s regular HR process in its
Communication Design team. The second batch of desktop publishing and multi-media course is expected to
be graduating by mid of March 2009. The first batch of MS Office course, consisting of 50 students, is also
expected to complete its certification by March 2009. To participate in this program, click any of the
following options:

 NGO Foundation
 Corporate
 Government
 Individual
 Volunteer

7. Playground Learning Stations (PLS)

A thought, a hypothesis, a series of experiments, a lot of innovation and research lead to the genesis of an
organization, known to the world as Hole-in-the-Wall Education Limited (HiweL). HiweL as an organization
was established in 2001 as a joint venture between NIIT Limited and International Finance Corporation
(World Bank). Over the past decade, HiweL has evolved both as an idea and as an organization. The
commitment towards imparting a playful learning environment to the underserved kids by setting up
Playground Learning Stations (PLS) that go beyond the school boundaries provides the impetus to the team
to reach out to the remotest of the locations.

Right from the conceptual stage from being a brainchild of Dr. Sugata Mitra, the Endeavour has always been
to provide a "Minimally Invasive" learning mechanism that enables the child to learn through self and group
exploration in an unsupervised environment. Progressing in accordance with the mission of bridging the
digital divide by offering exciting and effective education and learning experiences to the deprived groups, a
HiweL PLS gets used by children and community at large as their window to education and information.

Endorsing the achievement of UN MDGs, HiweL has a firm belief that issues concerning poverty reduction,
gender equality, and healthcare can only be sustained when today’s children grow up to be educated citizens.
Over the years, HiweL has been able to tackle with quality and accessibility issues that are prevalent in the
education process delivery models. Today, over 500 learning stations directly impact hundreds of thousands
of children and various members of the communities across India, Bhutan, and Cambodia in Asia and
countries in the African continent as well.

8. NIIT Uniqua 

Centre for Process Excellence, addresses the increasing demand for skilled workers in the business and
technology services industry by providing training programs in relevant areas. This is a part of NIIT Institute
of Process Excellence, a NIIT-Genpact venture.

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