Project to advance technical training for vulnerable youth across Northeast India.

NEW ROCHELLE, NY (Feb. 21, 2023) Don Bosco Technical School Maligaon, located in Assam, India, will be making technical education more accessible through the new “Promoting Peace through Technical Training” project. This project was made possible thanks to a grant from United States Agency for International Development’s American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (USAID/ASHA) program secured by Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco.

Through this project, which runs to the end of September 2026, Don Bosco Technical School will be transformed into the new Don Bosco Institute of Technology with the construction of a modern science and technology building. With the use of cutting-edge technology, Don Bosco Institute of Technology will advance technical training for vulnerable youth across Northeast India and beyond.

The new center will offer short-term technical programs that are relevant to the area, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, cybersecurity, and big data, as well as house a master classroom that will project sessions to remote skill centers. The goal is to ensure that technical education is more accessible for impoverished and marginalized youth, young women, and school dropouts.

The new master classroom will provide space and the technology to host state-of-the-art skills training in person and virtually. Live and recorded training sessions will be broadcast to Don Bosco remote skills training centers, enhancing curricula with model lectures and demonstrations that utilize the latest technologies and pedagogies.

In addition to training students, the new facility will also train teachers from at least 50 remote training centers. Training teachers will advance the quality of technical training and foster regional collaboration.

The initial goal is to reach 2,000 Indian youth and teachers from economically subordinate castes and villages to actively engage them in science, technology, and innovation by providing equal access to cutting-edge education by 2026.

Further, enrollment preference will be given to impoverished youth and young women, reaching those in remote villages who do not have access to education. The education will provide young women with relevant skills in new technology needed to pursue jobs in the growing STEM field, allowing graduates to pursue employment. Women will also be empowered with the soft skills needed to succeed in the workforce, including communication, management, and conflict resolution.

“The project will promote values such as gender equality and women in leadership,” said Father Timothy Ploch, interim director of Salesian Missions. “More educated and qualified women in the workforce is an investment in the family and decreases the economic burden many families face. Overall, this project will work to ensure that more youth in poverty have access to the technology skills to find and retain stable employment that will change their lives and that of their families and communities.”

Don Bosco Technical School was founded in 1969 and provides technical education to marginalized youth. Currently, the school provides courses on driving, automobile mechanics, electrician skills, sales and marketing, air conditioning and refrigeration, hospitality, tailoring, and welding. The new upgrades to the facility and training curriculum as part of this new project will positively impact poor youth locally and beyond.

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