Kamalini VOCATIOnal Training Center for Women
Gurgaon, India

Kamalini Vocational Training Centre for Women provides training and encouragement to underprivileged young girls and women in cutting and tailoring, embroidery, computer applications and as beauticians as per the guidelines of the Directorate General of Education and Training of India, irrespective of religion, caste, class or community, so that these women may gain the skills and confidence they need to better support themselves and their families. 

Female labor participation rate in India is less than 24%, compared to 76% for men, and female literacy rate also lags that of men by 12.9% points. Many young women drop out of school and migrate to developing cities in search of jobs to support their families. Due to their lack of adequate marketable skills, these women often have no choice but to take up informal work, for which they are often underpaid and undervalued.

Since opening its doors in 2007, Kamalini Vocational Training Center for Women has helped thousands of women in India complete their education and receive specialized skill training in retail, textiles, catering, IT, business, and micro-finance. As a result, they have access to better job opportunities with higher salaries, and many of them have started their own businesses.

In collaboration with NIIT Foundation, the philanthropic arm of a renowned IT Institute in India, Kamalini provides certificates in advanced IT courses for women from underserved areas.

Kamalini has also established an in-house production center to help students and alumni start or improve their own businesses. Sales from the products made in the production center help students support themselves while they complete their training.

Young women in rural Haryana have the opportunity to gain skills training to prepare to be tailors and beauticians in the Kamalini campus on the Sohna Road near Gurgaon, Haryana, to improve their living conditions and self-reliance. The center has achieved ISO 9001:2015 certification in vocational training.

The  Kamalini campus features technical and theory classroom for trades of sewing, cooking, catering and housekeeping, basic computers and beauticians’ courses, designed to help needy women from limited educational backgrounds gain skills for self-employment or for entry-level jobs. The curriculum balances trade with English and employability skills. A hostel and in-house training block provides accommodation for students from remote villages as well as the opportunity for on-the-job training  practice for students of cooking and hospitality.

The beneficiaries of Kamalini appreciate the flexible timings, courses designed for persons with minimum prior preparation, and fees made accessible for those who cannot afford to pay the full cost. The personal attention received at Kamalini maintains student retention even of former school drop-outs to complete the 3 to 6 month courses and take their exams to get certificates, in some cases, government-recognized or industry-recognized certificates. The supportive all-women’s atmosphere has helped marginalized persons to grow in confidence to seek employment or begin home-based businesses such as stitching clothes for their families and neighbors or boutiques, gaining employment in boutiques, fashion houses, salons or providing home beauty care services, or going on to teach the skills in other training centres.