The document summarizes a project between Panda Software International and Goodwill Social Work Centre to establish Community Technology Centers (CTCs) in Madurai, India. The CTCs provide computer literacy training to 900 children and young women from low-income communities over 3 years. Evaluation found high attendance, participation, and success rates, with many trainees gaining employment. The partnership empowered socially excluded groups with digital skills.

1. GOODWILL SOCIAL WORK
CENTRE,MADURAI,INDIA
Cross Sector Partnering between PANDA
SOFTWARE International (Spain) and Goodwill
Social work Centre (India)
in Community Technology Services Project in
Madurai, India
Presenter: Prof.Dr.J.Christopher Daniel,M.A.,Ph.D
Executive Director

5. FOUR PANDA IT AID WINNING
PROJECTS
• I. Save the Children (with a pan-European
project)
• II. Goodwill Social Work Centre (India)
• III.Fundación Braille (Uruguay) and
• IV.Paideia (Paraguay)
The winning finalists were chosen by a jury
of seven and with votes from the 1,500
employees of the Panda Group across 56
countries

7. Family support services-A Major
programme component
• Organising ‘Intensive family support services for the
dysfunctional families, which include child centered and family
focused programmes.
• Undertaking ‘Non-formal employment training programmes for
female and male youth in dysfunctional families, which include
tailoring and dress making for girls and young women, two
wheeler mechanism for male youth, computer literacy training
for both male and female youth.
• The project is a major programme component which will benefit
many a child and young woman in disadvantaged and
dysfunctional families in our project areas.

8. Location of the CTC project

9. Rationale of the project
• Not everyone in our project area has adequate opportunities to
learn about and use computer and information technologies
• Differences in access to computer and communications
technology exist by household income, educational attainment,
castes,social groups, age, and gender, with the greatest
inequities occurring for those with the lowest income and the
fewest educational opportunities
• These inequalities result in greater implications for individuals'
access to employment, knowledge, learning, and participation in
our society.
• In particular, children and young women in low and moderate-
income communities in Madurai, India are virtually shut out from
accessing computers
• Community Technology centres empower poor rural girls and
young women in Indian villages
• C T Centres are in response to concern about the growing gap
between children and young women of high socioeconomic
status families and those who do not have due to low
socioeconomic backgrounds

10. Highlights of the CTC
project
• The project is first of its kind to be implemented by an Indian
NGO in our areas of operation
• It is being implanted in semi-urban and villages in Madurai East
and West panchayat villages,Madurai,State of Tamilnadu,South
India
• It empowers children and young women of low and moderate
socioeconomic status families with technology skills and usage
in a community based setting for gainful employment
• The project will benefit 900 children and young women in low
and moderate income communites within a span of 36 months
• The project will provide opportunities for them to learn
computer skills and contract job work in local organisations
and start their own job houses to take up word processing and
DTP,data entry work,office management, online data entry and
formatting work and database preparation etc
• A unique feature is the project collaboration offered by Jai
Shikshan Sansthan (JSS)-Ministry of Human Resources
Development, Government of India (Madurai office) New Delhi,
India

11. Project objectives
1. To empower children and young women in low and
moderate-income communities in villages with
technology skills and usage in a community based
setting .
2. To provide them with intensive hands-on computer
literacy training based on real life exercises using
MS Office 2000 and help them with computer skills
to advance economically and compete
professionally in today’s digital economy
3. To offer them career guidance and information and
to assist them for gainful employment in ICT
related fields.

12. METHODLOGY
• The Community Technology centres will adopt an open learning
methodologies in the computer learning literacy training for the target
groups.
• The participants will use information technology in the following areas
namely:Data entry work,Word processing and DTP Desiging
cards,brochures and booklets,Data base preparation,office
management,online data entry and formattig work,use of Internet etc.
• The centre will identify girls and young women adults in the age group
of 15-30 and collect baseline information about the target population in
the project areas.
• The Centre will design courses and learing objectives in the
following areas:
1.Introduction to computers,2.Word Processing(level 1 and II),
3.Spreadsheets(level I and II) and The Internet(level I and II).
• The strategies will include I.Classroom teaching and learning
exercises II. Assignments III.Class tests IV.Hands-on-training V.Field
placement training etc.

13. Project implementation
The project has been implemented in the following phases:
a.Community mapping to identify interests and needs of
prospective participants
b. Establishing a Community Technology Centres for girls and
young adult women coming from villages and backward areas
in the peri-urban region.
c. Plan for operational needs-space, hardware, software,
furniture, and furnishings, Personnel for the CTC etc.
d. Designing curricula for various ICT courses and programs
e. Enrolment of girls and young women
f. Conducting a demographic survey g. Pre assessment of
Technology use and skills of girls and young women
h. Initiating ICT programs for girls and young women
i. Post assessment survey of the sampled population attending
Community Technology Centre
j. Documentation and Research reporting

14. ACTORS IN MULTI-STAKEHOLDER PROJECT
PARTNERSHIP
• THE BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP - Panda Software
International,Spain through the award of grants,
monitoring and evaluation of the project
• THE GOVERNMENT PARTNERSHIP - Jan
Shikshan Sansthan, Ministry of Human resources
development through accreditation and
certification of the digital learning courses,
performance management and award of
certificates to successful candidates
• GOODWILL PARTNERSHIP- involves project
implementation, performance management,
reporting and documentation.

15. Characteristics and Selection
criteria
The total number of beneficiaries will be 900 girls and young
women who are in the age group of 15-30.The selection of
participants are done considering the following criteria:
1. Girls and young women who belong to low socioeconomic
status families
2. Girls and young women who belong to Dalit communities
(socially oppressed classes in India)
3. Girls and young women whose parents work in unorganised
sectors, including agriculture on a daily wage basis
4. Young people in dysfunctional families (female headed families,
single parent families etc.
5. Girls and young women who are physical disabilities will be
given preference
6. School and college going youth
7. Working youth in organised, semi-organised and unorganised
sectors

16. Project monitoring and
evaluation
• The assessment methods are ‘project based’ that is say each
participant will print out a copy of a document she has worked on as
an evidence that she has met the learning objectivs forthe computer
literacy training courses and programs.
• The evaluation methodologies include 1.Checklist of tasks that
participant print out using the note pad or Word pad 2.In-class
exercises 3.Production of a document showing the different skills
learned during the training.
• Various research instruments namely 1.Demographic survey 2.Pre and
Post assessment survey 3.Generic member survey and 4.Technology
user satisfaction quesionnaire to elicit information from the target
groups are used.
• The centre uses evaluation instruments to measure the impact of
computer literacy training on the participants.
• Following evaluation, the project will be replicated in more villages to
cater for the demands of many rural girls and young women who
belong to low and moderate income status families

17. Expected results
• The participants have acquired different digital skills namely data
entry work,Word processing and DTP, visiting/greeting/invitation
cards, database preparation,office management,online data entry and
formatting work and the use of intenet.
• Further,the community Technology Centres have been working in
collaboration with local governmental organisations and non-
governmental organisations in contracting job work for them and also
finding jobs for them in local organisations.
• The trainees have developed knowledge competencies and applicable
skills in information and communication technology and were quipped
with different skills which would provide them with employment
opportunities and advance economically in today’s digital economy.
• The Goodwill social work centre has been gratned accreditation for
the computer training courses and programs from a Governmental
organisation- Jai Shikshan Sansthan(JSS)-Ministry of Human
Resources Development,Government of India,New Delhi,India.
• The certificates are very valuable to the participants not only for
securing personal loan from banks for self employment but also for
gettiing jobs in ICT related workplaces in India.

18. These centres will make use of appropriate information and
communication technology to address the problem of
unemployment and help the traget groups economically through job
placement and also creating income genetation opportunities for
the poor girls and young women
Though there are numerous Web browsing Centres and Internet
Cafes in Madurai City, which are run on a commercial basis, a
Community Technology Centre that could cater to the needs of
young women in villages and backward areas especially those from
low and moderate income families has not yet been established

19. Methodology of the study
• Designing and developing a personal profile questionnaire .Administration of
the instrument to all the participants. Interview method was used
• Total Sample frame was 300- Sample size for the study:252
• An interview/focus group protocol was used for gathering a wide range of
opinions and views from a study population of 60 children and young
women.
• The protocol contained a series of broad, open ended questions
• This is a case study based on quantitative and qualitative interviews
• The focus groups took place in GOODWILL’s office and were moderated by
the Project officer as the Executive Director and Project holder of the CTC
project observed and took notes
• The focus interviews were audiotaped and then transcribed. Text sections of
the transcripts were coded, using thematic codes consistent with the project
goals and aims
• Key contextual questions were asked to elicit information from the trainees.
• Every one was given a chance to speak and provide their response
• The information so collected were collated and presented in the study

20. Results
• Overall, a sizeable majority (69 percent) of the trainees (N=252) in both
unit I and II were children under 18 years and young women.
• Overall, a high proportion (60 percent) of them were in the 10th grade
in schooling, 34.9 percent were in the 12th grade in schooling
• The project has benefitted trainees (30 percent) who were socially
included into this programme and digital opportunities were provided
to them who are otherwise called as ‘socially excluded community
(Schedule caste/Scheduled Tribe).
• The dominant religion among the survey respondents {N=252) was
Hinduism (91 percent)
• A high proportion of the trainees’ family income (69.84 percent; 176)
was between Rs.1001-2000.
• A high proportion of the families of the trainees in unit I(55 percent)
and unit II(62 percent) fall under the ‘low income-normal family’
• A sizeable proportions of ‘low income-dysfunctional family’ were
enrolled in unit I (29 percent) and unit II (32percent).

21. • Only 19.84 percent (N=252) were married, 30.15 percent were
unmarried and the rest (50 percent) were children under 18 years of
age.
• The extent of participation and the level of attendance in the digital
learning programmes was high in both units {98 percent in unit I
and
94 percent in unit II}
• The overall rate of success in both centres in terms of attendance,
participation and performance was 89 percent which is phenomenal
and highly significant all
•The study respondents were of the view that the course design,
teaching methodology and the knowledge input and skills gained
were ‘excellent’.
• 70 percent of them viewed that their attendance in the digital
learning programme changed their life to get empowered with
computer skills whereas the rest (30 percent) felt that they became
aware of the digital knowledge
• 50 percent of young women have been able to secure a computing
job to work as clerks, data entry operators, office accountants etc in
local work places and private institutions{N=60}

42. Fig 19:Overall success rate of the training program in
both centre
6%
5%
Overall Success Rate in
Both Centre
Higher studies
Others
89%

43. Fig 1:Distribution of trainees by age - CTC Unit I
100
90
Trainees
80
14 – 19 Years
70
20 – 24 Years
60
25 – 29 Years
50 44%
30 – 34 Years
40
20% 35 – 39 Years
30
16%
20 40 and above Years
11%
10 4% 4%
0
Trainees
Fig 2:Distribution of trainees by age - CTC Unit II
100
90
81%
80
Trainees
70 14 – 19 Years
60 20 – 24 Years
50 25 – 29 Years
40 30 – 34 Years
30 35 – 39 Years
20 11%
40 and above Years
5%
10 2% 1% 0%
0
Trainees

44. Fig17:Overall grades obtained by the trainees - CTC Unit I
69%
80
70
60
50 31%
Total Trainees 40
30
20 0% 0%
10
0
Outstanding First Class Second Class Third Class
Fig18:Overall grades obtained by the trainees - CTC Unit II
100
90
66%
80
70
60
Total Trainees 50 32%
40
30
2%
20 0%
10
0
Outstanding First Class Second Class Third Class

50. Acknowledgements
With grateful hearts we place on
record our deep sense of gratitude to
PANDA SOFTWARE
INTERNATIONAL,S.L,Spain for
adjudging Goodwill Social Work
Centre, India as a finalist and winner
of the most prestigious award,2006
A VERY BIG ‘THANK YOU’ PANDA FOR
YOUR GIVING,HELPING AND CARING
HANDS

51. Contact address
Prof.Dr.J.Christopher Daniel,M.A.,Ph.D
Executive Director
Goodwill Social Work Centre
No:5,South Street Extension
Singarayar colony
Madurai-625002
Tamilnadu,INDIA
Email:chriskan@sify.com
Website:http://www.goodwillsocialworkcentre.org