Youth unemployment—particularly among rural youth—is a hot political issue in India, where more than 56 percent of secondary school students in India lack basic digital skills. The economy has been growing fast, but only about 30 percent of young adults can operate a computer—the figure is lower for women—and while more young people are studying beyond secondary school, many are still finishing with few marketable skills. Every year, while nearly eight million young people in India take short-term job skills training programs, those programs produce a job for only about one in three of them.
Yuva Junction is an innovative training program preparing rural youth in India for 21st-century careers. The program is run by the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP), AKF’s implementing arm in India.
Over the past 10 years, Yuva Junction has provided computer, job skills, and life skills training for more than 37,000 young people. The average starting salary for 2019 graduates ranged from 96,000 to 120,000 Rupees, which is three times the average household income from farming.
Read more about Yuva Junction’s work with helping youth find and thrive in meaningful jobs that match their aspirations in the Stanford Social Innovation Review.