Breakthrough Initiative in Youth Development

iLEAD(Institute for Livelihood Education and Development) is the brain child of Aide et Action, a French NGO. The iLEAD program was started initially for providing vocational training to children affected by the Tsunami in 2004. But later the project's scope was extended to cover underprivileged children who don't have the means to study. The program is designed to address the local needs in each area.

The foundation of this program is the Employability Potential Assessment(EPA) which is carried out in each area based on secondary and primary research. AeA carries out a careful study to determine the trades which are in demand and their employment potential. Using the EPA a list of trades which have the highest potential for providing employment are prepared. During the EPA process networking is done with the potential employers to get assurance that the candidates who pass out from iLEAD are given opportunity for employment. Then the location to setup the iLead centre is identified along with the feeder areas. Feeder areas are the areas which provide the candidates for this program. Once the trades are fixed, the curriculum development is carried out in consultation with the industry . Along with this begins the process of recruiting instructors and their training.

Once the instructors are recruited the Community Mobilisation Drive(CMD) is carried out 1 month before the commencement of the course. The instructors start the process of recruiting students. This is done either through the various stakeholders such as community heads, local NGOs or directly interaction with local people. Since iLead is a free program steps are taken to ensure the best and most deserving candidates get seats. An aptitude test is conducted for all the students who express interest in joining iLEAD. Based on the aptitude test, students are classified into different dimensions and this is used to evaluate their suitability for a particular trade.

Once the students are selected based on the aptitude test the course commences. The iLEAD program does not only import technical knowledge but also teaches spoken English and life skills. The iLEAD program typically lasts 3 months with 1 month on the job training depending on the individual trade. The instructors are not only responsible for teaching they also do networking with employers to provide their students with placement opportunities. They also do post placement followup with the employer to ensure the candidates are performing as expected or to iron out any issues that arise. The instructors are the bedrock of this iLEAD program and without whom this program would not be possible. The success rate of the placements are as high as 90% and majority of the organisations come back to hire more iLEAD graduates.

AeA has currently about 37 iLEAD centres all over the country and even Sri Lanka. They have planned to expand this to about 100 centres to help train 100,000 youth by end of 2oo8. Although the aim is ambitious it is not impossible not least due to the missionary zeal of AeA staff, iLEAD instructors and ambitious students. The private sector can help tremendously in this effort by providing financial support and placement opportunities for the graduates. Individuals also can make a difference because all it takes is Rs4000 to change one person's future.