Olympians launch employability programme

Ghaziabad: In an effort to provide unemployed sportspersons employable across industries, a five-month long certificate programme was launched at a private college in Ghaziabad on Tuesday

Ghaziabad: In an effort to provide unemployed sportspersons employable across industries, a five-month long certificate programme was launched at a private college in Ghaziabad on Tuesday.

Olympians launch employability programme

‘Certificate Programme on Enhancing Employability Skill of Sportspersons’ was launched by former Olympians and hockey players Ashok Kumar Dhyan Chand and Zafar Iqbal at the Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad.

According to Dr Kanishka Pandey, sports research centre head at IMT-Ghaziabad, “The course, spanning over 100 hours, will be offered to those who have minimum qualifications as graduates and should be a state-level sportsperson or above.

“Over 95% of sportspersons in India don’t have proper jobs, nor do they get financial incentives. Our sports research centre has designed a programme that will improve their employability. We hope this will benefit a large number of players,” Pandey said.

The course will train sportspersons in MS Office, adaptability skills, effective time management, problem solving skills, organisational skills, conflict management skills, presentation skills and managerial skill development, Pandey added.

“Sportspersons face a lot of problems to get employed in other industries as there are no institutes that offer specialised courses for us. This course will at least give an assurance to sportspersons that even if they don’t win Olympic medals, they will still have job opportunities due to their skill set”, said Ashok Dhyan Chand.

Professor Anil Sahasrabudhe, the former chairman of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the current chairman of National Educational Technology Forum said, “This innovative course should find a place in the education policy of the country”.