Deloitte initiative to empower 10 million girls in India

New Delhi: Professional services firm Deloitte Sunday said it will provide education and skills training to 10 million girls and women in India with an aim to equip them to find a meaningful work. The exercise will be carried out under its global initiative WorldClass, Deloitte said in a statement.

The initiative aims "to support 10 million girls and women by 2030 through education and skills development," it said. It said that globally, the WorldClass initiative seeks to prepare 50 million people to be better equipped for the future of work, in line with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Deloitte's WorldClass programme in India will focus on improving girls' retention rate in school, higher educational outcomes, and skills development for women to access employment, it added.

Under the initiative, partnerships will be launched with organisations such as Katha and Pratham. These organisations are working to improve the learning outcomes of millions of children and young people in schools and communities across India. “Our goal with WorldClass is to empower 50 million people globally by 2030, by providing them access to the education and skills required to find meaningful work in the new economy," Punit Renjen, Global CEO, Deloitte said.

The world is on the brink of a seismic shift with the emergence of the Industry 4.0 wave, and to thrive in it, "we must work together so that no one is left behind, he said. Across India, he said, almost 40 per cent of girls aged 15-18 years drop out of school and college, and only 26 per cent of women are employed. “As one of the emerging economies on the world stage today, India's