CSR: Tech Mahindra Foundation and GIZ Join Hands to Build a Skilling Ecosystem for the Allied Healthcare Sector Through Technological Interventions

Project (ASCENT) Alliance for Skill & Capacity ENhancement with Technology in joint collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and Tech Mahindra Foundation (TMF) to capacitate the skilling ecosystem through technological interventions. The project lies within the framework of the DeveloPPP program, which GIZ implements on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Participants from the event

Project ASCENT aims to train 10,000 urban youth in the sectors of Allied Healthcare, Logistics and Digital Technologies to bring about a transformational change in the lives of the youth, communities and the ecosystem as a whole.

Panellists Left to Right – Pradeep Singh-SBU Health HR- Fortis Healthcare, Akriti Gupta – Founder, Canfem, Kamal Sahani – MD, Tenet Health Edutech Pvt Ltd, Dr. Nidhi Kewalramani – Programme Director – Tech Mahindra Foundation

Speaking about the initiative, Chetan Kapoor, Chief Executive Officer, Tech Mahindra Foundation, says, “Recognizing the significant need to improve the standards of skilling in Healthcare in India, and to meet the burgeoning requirement for trained paramedics in our hospitals, Tech Mahindra Foundation has set up the SMART Academies for Healthcare in Delhi, Mumbai & Pune. Through project ASCENT, our partnership with GIZ brings in the critical element of technology in our training portfolio, especially since tech and healthcare are rapidly converging in a changing world. We hope to leverage the best of emerging technologies to bring affordable and cutting-edge training for the students of the SMART Academies.”

ASCENT leverages on the German Dual Vocational Educational Training (DVET) and makes youth employable for specific industry requirements. The project aims to enhance the teaching & learning experiences and build the capacity of the enrolled youth and trainers through technological interventions like Pedagogical training of Trainers, Monitoring and Evaluation Portal, Metaverse, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, Learning Management System with self-paced learning content and a job portal dedicated to the paramedic and allied healthcare industry and skilled aspirants.

Mr. Rodney Reviere, Cluster co-ordinator Social and Private Sector, GIZ India says, “The need for technological interventions in training is clear, with advantages such as relevance, customization, accessibility, reach, and keep up-to-date in a dynamic world. Project ASCENT drives these advancements through its German cooperative vocational and educational training system-based pedagogical training, bringing training institutes and industry together to transform skilling through action-oriented teaching and learning to enhance engagement and development.”

The Tech Mahindra Foundation through its SMART initiative focuses on offering intensive, high-quality vocational courses to equip youth with the right skills and knowledge to be an integral part of the allied healthcare services.

Adding about the initiative, Sajid Ali, Chief Operating Officer, Tech Mahindra Foundation, says, “The future thrives on change exhilarated with equal participation, technology, and connecting experiences. We aim to collaborate with more than 300 industry partners in the sector of allied healthcare, logistics and digital technologies and enroll at least 10,000 youth with more than 80% women in healthcare. With this initiative, we aspire to bring equal participation of women in the workforce of these sectors and break industry stereotypes.”

The event held in Delhi had engaging discussions on best practices in the healthcare sector, sharing insights, role of technology in healthcare and discussions on skilling and upskilling of human resource which is the soul of the healthcare.

The event witnessed demonstration of the Virtual Reality course modules with a glimpse of soon to be launched job portal connecting healthcare industry and aspirants at one platform with many additional features.

The panel discussion on workforce development and emerging trends in the allied healthcare sector, reiterated some key aspects that are vital for the sector. Technology plays a crucial role making healthcare services accessible and affordable where demand of nursing will always be there along with other allied healthcare services. Medical education and healthcare delivery is bridged by efforts like ASCENT which adapts to the emerging digital technologies, improving quality, and ensuring healthcare delivery.

About Tech Mahindra Foundation
Founded in the year 2006, Tech Mahindra Foundation is the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arm of Tech Mahindra Limited. We work extensively on the vision of ‘Empowerment through Education‘ with three key focus areas – Education, Employability, and Disability to empower all to Rise.

We believe educated, skilled and competent women and men are a country’s true strength. We aspire to see children who are purposefully engaged, youth that is constructively employed and a society that provides equal opportunities to people with different abilities.

Our cross-cutting themes across all our projects and programs are, Empowerment of Girls/Women, Corporate Volunteering and Mental Health & Wellbeing. The Foundation works with the mandate that 50% of its beneficiaries are women and 10% are Persons with Disabilities. Driven by our core purpose and values, we work towards furthering our vision with more than 150+ partners across 11 locations through all our programs and initiatives.

About Tech Mahindra
Tech Mahindra offers innovative and customer-centric digital experiences, enabling enterprises, associates, and society to Rise for a more equal world, future readiness, and value creation. It is a USD 6.5+ billion organization with 148k+ professionals across 90 countries helping 1250+ global customers, including Fortune 500 companies. It is focused on leveraging next-generation technologies including 5G, Metaverse, Blockchain, Quantum Computing, Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence, and more, to enable end-to-end digital transformation for global customers. It is the only Indian company in the world to receive the HRH The Prince of Wales’ Terra Carta Seal for its commitment to creating a sustainable future. It is the fastest growing brand globally in ‘brand value rank‘ and among the top 7 IT brands globally in brand strength with AA+ rating. With its NXT.NOWTM framework, Tech Mahindra aims to enhance ‘Human Centric Experience‘ for its ecosystem and drive collaborative disruption with synergies arising from a robust portfolio of companies. It aims at delivering tomorrow’s experiences today and believes that the ‘Future is Now‘.

Tech Mahindra is part of the Mahindra Group, founded in 1945, one of the largest and most admired multinational federation of companies with 260,000 employees in over 100 countries. It enjoys a leadership position in farm equipment, utility vehicles, information technology, and financial services in India and is the world’s largest tractor company by volume. It has a strong presence in renewable energy, agriculture, logistics, hospitality, and real estate. The Mahindra Group has a clear focus on leading ESG globally, enabling rural prosperity and enhancing urban living, with a goal to drive positive change in the lives of communities and stakeholders to enable them to Rise.