Studying the impact of government's employability enhancement drive <i>Finishing School</i> on tribal students of a college in the South Gujarat region in India

Falguni P. Desai; Piyush S. Desai; Fatma Sonmez Cakir; Bhavna T. Naik; Riaz A. Tai; Falguni P. Desai; Piyush S. Desai; Fatma Sonmez Cakir; Bhavna T. Naik; Riaz A. Tai

doi:10.3934/steme.2024007

STEM Education

2024, Volume 4, Issue 2: 106-126. doi: 10.3934/steme.2024007

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Studying the impact of government's employability enhancement drive Finishing School on tribal students of a college in the South Gujarat region in India

1.
Department of English, Shri M.R. Desai Arts & E.E. Laher Kosadia Commerce College, Chikhli 396521, affiliated to Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, Gujarat, India
2.
Arts, Science & Commerce College, Kholwad, Kamrej Char Rasta, Surat 394185, affiliated to Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, Gujarat, India
3.
Bartin University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Bartin, Turkey
4.
Department of Statistics, V. S. Patel College of Arts & Science, Bilimora 396321, affiliated to Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, Gujarat India
5.
Shri M.R. Desai Arts & E.E. Laher Kosadia Commerce College, Chikhli 396521, affiliated to Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, Gujarat, India

Academic Editor: William W. Guo

Received: 29 December 2023 Revised: 29 January 2024 Accepted: 27 February 2024 Published: 04 March 2024

We described an exploration of the impact of India's state Gujarat Government's Employability enhancement drive, 'Finishing School' (FS) training on the graduate level tribal college students in Gujarat, India. A literature review on employment skills (ES), vision, mission, and ES set module of FS was used to formulate the tool–Employability Enhancement Measuring Scale (EEMS). Data generation methods include pre and post-tests by EEMS survey questionnaire. SPSS 24 statistical package program was used for data analysis. The values before and after the training were compared using the Paired and Independent samples t-test and descriptive statistics. Results indicated a significant positive effect on tribal students' employability skills. The tool traced what students became by improving upon the ES sets by the end of the 'FS' training. The study's significance lies in the focus on tribal groups, aligning with the state's long-term vision for holistic growth. With a majority of students from the underprivileged Dang Forest area, the research suggested that FS training promoted inclusive growth, contributing to New India @ 75, and supporting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4, 8, 10, and 16. It could be inferred that the experimental group in this study constituted 93% tribal students, many of whom were first-generation learners, making the Gujarat experiment a valuable model for potential adoption in diverse regions globally.
- employability skills,
- enhancement,
- Finishing School,
- sustainable development,
- training
Citation: Falguni P. Desai, Piyush S. Desai, Fatma Sonmez Cakir, Bhavna T. Naik, Riaz A. Tai. Studying the impact of government's employability enhancement drive Finishing School on tribal students of a college in the South Gujarat region in India[J]. STEM Education, 2024, 4(2): 106-126. doi: 10.3934/steme.2024007

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Abstract

We described an exploration of the impact of India's state Gujarat Government's Employability enhancement drive, 'Finishing School' (FS) training on the graduate level tribal college students in Gujarat, India. A literature review on employment skills (ES), vision, mission, and ES set module of FS was used to formulate the tool–Employability Enhancement Measuring Scale (EEMS). Data generation methods include pre and post-tests by EEMS survey questionnaire. SPSS 24 statistical package program was used for data analysis. The values before and after the training were compared using the Paired and Independent samples t-test and descriptive statistics. Results indicated a significant positive effect on tribal students' employability skills. The tool traced what students became by improving upon the ES sets by the end of the 'FS' training. The study's significance lies in the focus on tribal groups, aligning with the state's long-term vision for holistic growth. With a majority of students from the underprivileged Dang Forest area, the research suggested that FS training promoted inclusive growth, contributing to New India @ 75, and supporting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4, 8, 10, and 16. It could be inferred that the experimental group in this study constituted 93% tribal students, many of whom were first-generation learners, making the Gujarat experiment a valuable model for potential adoption in diverse regions globally.

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Author's biography Falguni Desai is the Principal at Shri M.R. Desai Arts & E.E. Laher Kosadia Commerce College, Chikhili, affiliated to Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, fostering education in South Gujarat's tribal belt. Dr. Desai holds degrees in English, Sanskrit, and Education, and a PhD in Comparative Literature. She directed Gujarat's Special Education Project and contributed to the Vednipuna project. She presented papers globally, authored books, and joined the Leadership for Academician's Program (LeAP) of the Government of India. She epitomises commitment to education, training, extension and research; Piyush Desai serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Shri JS Bhakta & KM Bhakta Arts, Shri AN Shah Science & Shri NF Shah Commerce College, Kholwad, which is affiliated with Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, Gujarat, India, a position he has held since 2008. With a prolific academic career, he has authored over 55 research papers and 5 books. Piyush Desai has completed two projects funded by UGC and GUJCOST and has guided 6 PhD students throughout their research endeavours; Fatma SÖNMEZ ÇAKIR holds the title of Associate Professor in the field of Quantitative Decision Methods. She works at Bartin University, Department of Management Information Systems. Study topics can be listed as Artificial Neural Networks, Multi-Criteria Decision Making, Statistical Analysis, and Machine Learning; Bhavna Naik holds the position of Head of the Department of Statistics at V. S. Patel College of Arts & Science, Bilimora, which is affiliated with Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, Gujarat, India. She represents the academic body at the university level, contributing to the advancement of statistical education and research; Riaz Tai is an Assistant Professor at Shri M.R. Desai Arts & E.E. Laher Kosadia Commerce College, Chikhli which is affiliated with Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, India. He is a Coordinator of the Finishing School and specializes in the field of Hindi literature

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