My first Magazine Skilletts_ January 2018 | Page 3

Summer time in the ASAP
Beehive
Dr. K.P. Jaikiran
Head, Curriculum Design and Logistics Sector
Spring heralds summer with flowers all around. And summer is a time when
bees are active in gathering nectar from the sea of flowers around. That is the time when activ-
ity in the ASAP Beehive reaches its zenith to reach out to the students who completed their
school and college. It was in the summer of 2013 that ASAP thought about stretching itself to
cater to this population along with its normal audience, i.e., those pursuing studies. Hardly an-
yone knew that the summer of 2013 would witness the birth of a highly successful model of
short duration, intensive and placement-oriented training.
It all started in a humble manner as Summer Skill Training (SST). In contrast to what followed
in later years, SST was mainly an ASAP-driven exercise where the field staff did a rigorous cam-
paigning to get the idea across. Skill Development Centres (SDCs) became the centre of action
where students converged for registration in the available courses and also for skill training
classes. Monitoring of classes, internship facilitation and assessment were all the responsibili-
ties of the Programme Managers who did that well along with their regular functions. “I still
remember walking into the Big Bazar, Trivandrum for canvassing them for internship training for
the SST students” is what one of the Seniormost Programme Manager, Smt. Preetha A says
about her first ASAP summer experience.
From a modest beginning, the concept of summer training soon caught up like wild fire in the
overall ASAP Training plan and it soon evolved into the Summer Skill Skool (SSS) model with a
variety of models to suit diverse interests. With four modes of operation where SDCs, Indus-
try, Institutions and Training Service Providers play pivotal roles in varying degrees, SSS soon
became an accepted model of training. “We had little idea that the SST would be accepted in a
big way. The only thing that mattered then was the need to come up with an alternate model of
aggressive training which would be more effective and acceptable”, says Shri. P.M. Riyas, Head
Strategy whose idea spark led to the whole concept of Summer Training.
“We developed the campaign strategy mainly during the short drives in my little Maruti with
Riyas to the Secretariat for our regular evening meetings. I wonder how I maneuvered through
the rush hour traffic as we dived deep into the nuts and bolts of the model”, says Shri. M.
Vivekanandan Nair, the master brain behind many such ASAP campaigns.
Skilletts— January– 2018
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