George Mathew sdb NEW DELHI, MARCH 7, 2009: The Fifth National Convention of the Don Bosco Tech India was held from March 4 to 6, 2009 at Don Bosco Provincial House, New Delhi. Over 100 participants representing Don Bosco Skills Training Institutions attended this convention which had as its theme, 'Skill Development: Opportunities and Challenges'. Fr. Machael Peedikayil, Salesian Provincial of New Delhi, welcomed the participants to the Convention and to the city of New Delhi. Fr. Noel Maddichetty, Provincial Delegate for 
DB Tech in the SPCSA, delivered the inaugural address. He stressed that each of our Skill Training Centres should become a "one stop shop" for the youth to receive all the services they require. Several panel presentations then followed. The first panel in the morning comprised Mr. Rajan Kohli from FICCI, Mr. R Banerjee from IIW and Ms. Susanna Kraft a consultant from Germany. The panel after lunch was made up of senior industrialists from Mahindra & Mahindra, Siemens, and Larsen and Toubro. The final panel for the day had representatives from the National Academy of Construction, KITCO and Bharti Learning Systems. All these panellists presented the view of Corporate India on the huge opportunities available today. They stressed the mismatch between the opportunities 
available in the labour market and trained youngsters. The second day of the convention began with a presentation by Fr. Savio Silveira, on the findings of the Youth Survey done across the country. The survey has covered close to 200,000 respondents from 21 states. So far 50,000 data has been analyzed. The preliminary findings are already an eye opener with regard to our target group and their present situation, their aspirations concerning training, employment etc. The participants were very interested in the findings since it introduces new perspectives into our work. The Convention was then graced by the presence of Ms. Sudha Pillai, Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India. In her speech, she not only appreciated the contribution of DB Tech India in the field of skill training, but also expressed her desire that we scale up our efforts to reach out to the vast number of young people in the country who need skill training. Following next was a panel presentation by Mr. Sharda Prasad the Director General of Employment and Training, Dr. Amar Singh the Jt. Secretary of Ministry of Rural Development and Mr. Shailendra Sharma from the Planning Commission. These officials presented various schemes that DB Tech could avail of. They stressed that DB Tech should not 
consider itself a beneficiary but rather a partner with the government in skills training. The rest of the day saw presentations by representatives from the World Bank, GTZ, SIDBI, Teamlease and Youth Reach. Fr. Maria Arokiam, Regional Councillor for South Asia, joined the convention on its closing day. Addressing the participants, he congratulated the Network for its many successes during these past years. He reminded the participants that GC 26 invites us to move towards New Frontiers. He pointed out that these new frontiers could be our partnerships with the government and corporate bodies for the welfare of the young people. Next, Fr. Stephen Mavely, Director of Don Bosco University Guwahati, addressed the Convention and presented the possibility of courses conducted by DB Tech institutions being certified by the Don Bosco University. The final hours of the convention were dedicated to discussions on N
ational Priorities for the network. The key priorities that emerged were: Conducting Skills Training Programmes through the schemes offered by the Ministry of Rural Development, Setting up a National Network for Placements, Standardization and Certification of Courses, Introducing MES courses in all our skills training centres. Before the Convention cam to a close, Fr. A.M. Jose, National Coordinator of DB Tech India, proposed the vote of thanks.
DB Tech in the SPCSA, delivered the inaugural address. He stressed that each of our Skill Training Centres should become a "one stop shop" for the youth to receive all the services they require. Several panel presentations then followed. The first panel in the morning comprised Mr. Rajan Kohli from FICCI, Mr. R Banerjee from IIW and Ms. Susanna Kraft a consultant from Germany. The panel after lunch was made up of senior industrialists from Mahindra & Mahindra, Siemens, and Larsen and Toubro. The final panel for the day had representatives from the National Academy of Construction, KITCO and Bharti Learning Systems. All these panellists presented the view of Corporate India on the huge opportunities available today. They stressed the mismatch between the opportunities 
available in the labour market and trained youngsters. The second day of the convention began with a presentation by Fr. Savio Silveira, on the findings of the Youth Survey done across the country. The survey has covered close to 200,000 respondents from 21 states. So far 50,000 data has been analyzed. The preliminary findings are already an eye opener with regard to our target group and their present situation, their aspirations concerning training, employment etc. The participants were very interested in the findings since it introduces new perspectives into our work. The Convention was then graced by the presence of Ms. Sudha Pillai, Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India. In her speech, she not only appreciated the contribution of DB Tech India in the field of skill training, but also expressed her desire that we scale up our efforts to reach out to the vast number of young people in the country who need skill training. Following next was a panel presentation by Mr. Sharda Prasad the Director General of Employment and Training, Dr. Amar Singh the Jt. Secretary of Ministry of Rural Development and Mr. Shailendra Sharma from the Planning Commission. These officials presented various schemes that DB Tech could avail of. They stressed that DB Tech should not 
consider itself a beneficiary but rather a partner with the government in skills training. The rest of the day saw presentations by representatives from the World Bank, GTZ, SIDBI, Teamlease and Youth Reach. Fr. Maria Arokiam, Regional Councillor for South Asia, joined the convention on its closing day. Addressing the participants, he congratulated the Network for its many successes during these past years. He reminded the participants that GC 26 invites us to move towards New Frontiers. He pointed out that these new frontiers could be our partnerships with the government and corporate bodies for the welfare of the young people. Next, Fr. Stephen Mavely, Director of Don Bosco University Guwahati, addressed the Convention and presented the possibility of courses conducted by DB Tech institutions being certified by the Don Bosco University. The final hours of the convention were dedicated to discussions on N
ational Priorities for the network. The key priorities that emerged were: Conducting Skills Training Programmes through the schemes offered by the Ministry of Rural Development, Setting up a National Network for Placements, Standardization and Certification of Courses, Introducing MES courses in all our skills training centres. Before the Convention cam to a close, Fr. A.M. Jose, National Coordinator of DB Tech India, proposed the vote of thanks.