Young People In India Research Articles

Skill-building and employability training for disadvantaged young people in India: Experience of Gram Tarang Employability Training Services

Young people in India make up 19 per cent of the population and, despite growing demands for skilled employees, the unemployment rate is at 50 per cent for youth across the country. Traditional approaches to preparing people for employment have had very low levels of success, with some students dropping out of programmes, and others unable to find employment despite completing training. This article describes the experience of Gram Tarang Employability Training Services Ltd (GTETS) in providing skills development and employability training to disadvantaged young people in India. Unlike the traditional models of skills training by public and private institutions, GTETS adopts a market-led business model that improves upon quality of curriculum, infrastructure, qualifications of faculty, industry interface to ensure placement, and cost sharing of the training programmes to make it affordable and sustainable.

Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People in India: Project MYTRI

We assessed the effectiveness of a 2-year multicomponent, school-based intervention designed to reduce tobacco use rates among adolescents in an urban area of India. Students from 32 schools in Delhi and Chennai, India, were recruited and randomly assigned to an intervention or control group. Baseline, intermediate, and outcome data were collected from 2 cohorts of 6th- and 8th-grade students in 2004; 14,063 students took part in the study and completed a survey in 2004, 2005, or 2006. The intervention consisted of behavioral classroom curricula, school posters, a parental involvement component, and peer-led activism. The main outcome measures were self-reported use of cigarettes, bidis (small hand-rolled, often flavored, cigarettes), and chewing tobacco and future intentions to smoke or use chewing tobacco. Findings showed that students in the intervention group were significantly less likely than were students in the control group to exhibit increases in cigarette smoking or bidi smoking over the 2-year study period. They were also less likely to intend to smoke or chew tobacco in the future. School-based programs similar to the intervention examined here should be considered as part of a multistrategy approach to reducing tobacco use among young people in India.

Violence, psychological distress and the risk of suicidal behaviour in young people in India

Suicide among young people has emerged as a major public health issue in many low- and middle-income (LAMI) countries. Suicidal behaviour including ideation and attempt are the most important predictors of completed suicide and offer critical points for intervention. The aim of this study is to estimate the prevalence and risk factors for suicidal behaviour in young people in India. Cross-sectional study of 3662 youth (16-24 years) from rural and urban communities in Goa, India. Suicidal behaviour during the recent 3 months and associated factors were assessed using a structured interview. Overall 144; 3.9% [95% confidence interval (CI) 3.3-4.6] youth reported any suicidal behaviour in the previous 3 months. Suicidal behaviour was found to be associated with female gender Odds ratio (OR) 6.5 (95% CI 3.9-10.8), not attending school or college OR 1.6 (95% CI, 1.01-2.6), independent decision making OR 2.5 (95% CI 1.5-4.3), premarital sex OR 3.2 (95% CI 1.6-6.3), physical abuse at home OR 3.3 (95% CI 1.8-6.1), life time experience of sexual abuse OR 3.3 (95% CI 1.8-6.0) and probable common mental disorders (CMD) OR 9.5 (95% CI 6.3-14.5). Gender segregated analysis found independent decision making (P=0.68 for interaction), rural residence (P=0.01 for interaction) and premarital sex (P=0.41 for interaction) retained association with suicidal behaviour only among females (P<0.05). The population attributable fraction estimates were largest for CMD (42.8% for females; 35.9% for males); physical abuse in one's home (12.5% for females; 12.4% for males); sexual abuse (12.1% in females; 22.3% in males); and making independent decisions (22.9% for females). Analyses of the risk factors for the relatively less common outcome of suicide attempts found a similar set of factors as for suicidal behaviour; in addition, alcohol use was also an independent risk factor. Violence and psychological distress are independently associated with suicidal behaviour; factors associated with gender disadvantage-in particular for rural women, may increase their vulnerabilities. Prevention programs for youth suicide in India need to address both the structural determinants of gender disadvantage, and the individual experiences of violence and poor mental health.

Chewing tobacco, brewing epidemic

Susmita Barman explains how young people in India do not realise how chewing sweet gutkha could lead to oral cancer later in life

What Does Globalization Mean for Educational Change? A Comparative Approach

What Does Globalization Mean for Educational Change? A Comparative Approach