Guwahati: A 48-year-old vocational/skill training school in Guwahati has geared up to be an electronic manufacturing hub in the gateway to northeastern India. Besides setting up manufacturing units and initiating training for assembling solar panels, LED lights, the school has signed up to start assembling and installing CCTV camera.
The pioneer manufacturing institution is Don Bosco Technical School (DBTS), Maligaon established in 1968 as a non formal technical institute managed by Don Bosco Educational Society Guwahati.
Present at the inauguration of the modern complex was the founder director of DBTS, 98-year-old Fr Porcu Mario who started the institution on May 31, 1968, and his student Chakraborty who is currently instructor in the same institution.
Also present at the function were government and industry representatives who collaborated in the venture.
Fr Mario opened the institution while Guwahati Salesian provincial Fr V.M. Thomas blessed the two story building.
Adding music to the inaugural event was the neighboring institution St Mary’s Convent and School Maligaon with their first ever marching band (20 piece brass band) consisting of aspirants and candidates of Salesian Sisters.
Speaking at the occasion a visibly moved Fr Mario praised the contribution of his “successors who have labored to provide training to poor and marginalized youth of northeast India.”
Fr Mario recalled the aim of the pioneering days was “to impart technical education and skilling of the marginalized and poor rural youth including school drop-outs of Assam and adjoining north eastern states of India.”
Fr V.M. Thomas, key inspiration behind the project said, “The Institution trained some 3,000 marginalized youth over the last three years and more than 80 per cent of them have been happily placed.”
The Director and Rector of DBTS Fr Benny Alex listed the skills such as Driving, Auto-mobile, Electrician, Sales & Marketing, AC & Refrigeration, Hospitality, Tailoring and Welding being taught at the school.
He affirmed that, “DBTS continues to focus on job-oriented training programs to benefit school drop-outs and unemployed youth.”
Fr Benny further hopes that in two years he could celebrate the golden jubilee of the school with another new facility to reach out and provide “quality vocational education and training by bringing forth skilful and employable youth to the society with better training programs and standardization in many more fields.”
Fr Benny assured that “We are making every effort to modernize the workshops with state of art technology for quality training and production for self sustainability.”
Director of Bosco Reach Out, social service wing of Guwahati Salesians Fr K.J. Thomas mentioned and thanked the collaboration of German government ministry as well as Don Bosco nel Mondo Germany for helping the project which started on 8th December 2014 with the blessings of Archbishop John Moolachira of Guwahati.
The institution does not shy away to network with various government departments, corporate houses like TATA, YAMAHA, ITC and others in the areas of vocational, technical and skill training.
Explaining the industry-academia collaboration in this skilling venture, Mr Lanu Ignatius another key link in the project, a Don Bosco alumnus and IT executive said, “our aim is to manufacture here and make DBTS an electronic manufacturing cluster in Guwahati.”
As part of Prime Minister Modi’s ‘Make in India’ campaign, DBTS assembled LED street lights and installed in the Assam Don Bosco University hostel campus at Azara in Guwahati.
Don Bosco School Jorhat became a green school with the former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi’s efforts and DBTS supplied solar panels assembled in Maligaon. It has inspired Carmel School Jorhat to go the green school way with the help of panels from DBTS.