UNESCO’s Global Education Coalition member KPMG to launch new mentorship programme in India

Under the scope of the Global Skills Academy, KPMG, a member of UNESCO’s Global Education Coalition, will launch a new mentorship initiative with the National Skill Development Corporation International (NSDCI) to support young graduates entering the labour market in India.

In the framework of KPMG International and UNESCO’s Cooperation on Youth Economic Empowerment Initiative launched in March 2022, KPMG professionals will provide the expertise and knowledge of 100 mentors based in the Indian firm. The initiative, which will be rolled out nationwide by the end of January, will see participating staff paired up with 100 young people from the NSDCI to help make them ‘job ready’.

This initiative “plays a key role in KPMG’s global strategy to support education and lifelong learning for disadvantaged young people,” said Tom Brown, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Special Adviser at KPMG International.

The KPMG mentors have three or more years of work experience, and many are professionally qualified graduates providing advisory services to large corporations in areas such as finance and forensic investigations services, for example. KPMG in India believes that the programme will provide the participating employees with a sense of purpose and give them the opportunity “to apply their everyday work skills in new ways that can directly benefit mentees’ lives and livelihoods.”

The mentees are existing and trained candidates from NSDCI – India’s centre for skills’ development and a member of the UNESCO – UNEVOC network. Aged between 18 and 25, they are both male and female degree or diploma holders, undergraduates, and graduates from different training streams.

During the recruitment phase, NSDCI ensured an equal gender representation, with priority given to young people who would not otherwise have the means to participate in such programs.  

Paramananda Santra, Deputy General Manager of international cooperation at NSDCI, explained that “Despite their varied qualifications and skills, many young people still struggle to find a suitable job due to their lack of specific soft or workplace skills, including interview preparation, resume writing, and communication.”

The mentoring programme, which will run for six months, will focus on equipping candidates with the skills that they will need to progress and be successful in their professional journey. Each pair will meet virtually every one to three weeks on Volunteer Vision’s digital classroom to ensure regular engagement and monitoring of progress. The use of the online mentoring software is critical in maximizing the scale and reach of the programme.

KPMG is a member of the Global Education Coalition and one of 22 partners contributing directly to the work of the Global Skills Academy (GSA). The GSA mission is to provide access to free and demand-driven online training opportunities to support 10 million learners by 2029 to increase their employability and resilience in a changing labour market.