GE Healthcare to partner 100 skill training partners to train 1 lakh youth

Chennai : GE Healthcare will collaborate with some 100 skill partners across India to train over one lakh youth for the healthcare industry.

The company is also looking to expand operations in Africa and ASEAN countries.

Partnerships

Terri Bresenham, President and CEO, Sustainable Healthcare Solutions, GE Healthcare, said the company has partnered with 24 organizations across India, including Tata Trust, to train youth. So far, over 1,000 people have been trained as technicians in various functions such as X-ray, operations theatre and ultrasound and all have found jobs.

The initiative took shape two years ago to bridge the skill gap in the healthcare sector, mainly in tier II and III cities. GE Healthcare is the knowledge and technical partner that will train the staff of the skill partner. Tata Trust helps with the financing by providing interest-free loans that can be repaid a year after the student graduates.

Growing numbers

Sharmila Anand, Managing Director of Santosh Education and Healthcare Pvt Ltd, a social enterprise and skill partner for GE in Chennai, said the enrollment has doubled and the organization is seeing more students from rural areas. “Earlier we had to send our trainer to smaller villages. But now things are slowly changing,” she said.

Anand said the training, which focuses mostly on women, makes a difference as they are able to provide for their families with the guarantee of 100 percent placements. “They earn a minimum salary of ₹13,000 a month,” she added.

These are the kind of impact the company is hoping to achieve in India and for that changes in policy are important.

“For such changes to happen we need to have women as decision-makers, but they barely make up 30 percent the higher level,” Bresenham said.

Note: News shared for public awareness with reference from the information provided at online news portals.