(a)Home Nursing:
This is the first program started by ANEW. The target group is under-privileged candidates from government schools or young women who have either completed 8th Std or are high school dropouts.
The course encompasses learning basic skills in caring for patients and providing geriatric care. A full-time teacher, who is also a qualified nurse, engaged by ANEW, conducts regular theory classes for 3 months. The students are then sent for practical training at some of the local hospitals including Sundaram Medical Foundation (SMF) in Anna Nagar, Chennai (who also co-certify the course). Here they also have an opportunity to work under doctors and nurses while tending to patients.Students are also provided short orientation courses in other NGOs in relevant areas like geriatric care, pediatric care and the mental illness. On completion of training, ANEW helps in their placements at nursing homes or as home nurses.
Home Nursing is ANEW’s flagship course by which over 4000 candidates have been trained till date. Most of the candidates trained have sustained their careers and ANEW’s contribution is perceived to be life-changing by their families.
By constantly seeking feedback from their employers, adding new modules like physiotherapy and having its course content vetted by hospitals, ANEW has been able to upgrade and sustain this course to meet stringent hospital requirements.
(b) Computer Skills Courses:
Introduced in the year 2000, ANEW’s computer related courses have been successful in bringing about computer awareness, which is considered the new “literacy quotient”, to the underprivileged segment of the society and in providing them with professional employment skills. Starting with a Basic IT course, the students, all of them first generation literates from corporation/government schools and colleges, have an option to take up more value added advanced course to enhance their job prospects. ANEW conducts the programs using competent computer professionals. An active placement cell that which maintains a database of the students, regularly contacts prospective employers, arranges for interviews, facilitates placements and even seeks feedback from employers for improvement of services.
Basic IT: The NIIT Foundation certified course runs for 3 months and is offered to candidates who have completed 12thstd/12thstd dropouts/final year graduates, with a better understanding of English. The selected candidates undergo training in:
* Fundamentals of Computers
* MS Office
* Internet Usage
Advanced IT-based Courses:
Tally & Accounting: The course which runs for 4 months is offered to candidates with Commerce/Maths educational background along with basic Knowledge in Computers with interest and aptitude for accounting. A Tally academy & NIIT Foundation supports this project by providing the Syllabus, course material and software. The trainees appear for Tally ERP’s online exam for junior accountant at the end of the course to improve their job prospects. The topics covered are:
• Basic Accounting Skills
• Tally ERP 9
• Bookkeeping
• Accounts with Inventory
• Bank reconciliation
e-Publishing: E-Publishing course was started in 2017 to train ANEW’s beneficiaries in e-Publishing. Such training offers them opportunities to enter into functional roles in publishing houses thereby enabling them to grow professionally and earn more than in support roles.
Python Program: This program was introduced end 2021 to develop knowledge and skill in the technology driven markets. It is offered to computer science graduates and will help students to get into programming jobs.
Additionally, all the above courses have mandatory spoken English and career readiness classes to improve the employability skills of the beneficiaries.
Meaningful partnerships with the CSR departments of corporates for program content and certification, constant upgradation of course content based on market requirements, provision of relevant internships and tie-ups with leading IT companies for placements have all contributed to the runaway success of ANEW’s computer programs.
(c) Car/Auto Driving:
This project is aimed at catering to the increasing demand for women drivers. Following orientation sessions, the selected trainees are sent to an authorized driving school for initial driving lessons and license. On completion of training at the driving school, the candidates come back to ANEW for on-road training with a trainer selected by ANEW for hands-on experience and road awareness and further self-driving sessions to make them confident in driving.