Driven by Magic Bus and supported by Laureus, Maidan Summit 2016 had organizations, practitioners and academicians share learning and best practices from education and livelihood-based development programmes across India. Bollywood celebrity and former Indian rugby player, Rahul Bose, delivered the keynote address. The conference was held on the 13th and 14thDecember at the University of Mumbai. 14th December 2016, New Delhi: Maidan 2016 brought together international and grassroots development organizations, academicians, practitioners, and corporate houses in a common platform to discuss the best practices around education and livelihood-based interventions for young people in our country. In its sixth year, Maidan 2016 was led by Magic Bus India Foundation and co-hosted by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).
In his keynote address, Rahul Bose, Bollywood actor and former Indian rugby player, said, “In life you can do nothing alone. Working with everyone and discipline are two important skills one learns from sports. Practicing equality in our day to day life is both difficult and important.”
Matthew Spacie, Founder, Magic Bus said, “Every year we host Maidan to crystallize efforts made by each of us to address the most pressing problems facing the country. With 600 million Indians under the age of 25, ours is the youngest country in the global map. And yet, we are constantly faced with a mismatch between what is taught in our schools and skills and knowledge required to get a salaried job. This situation needs our immediate and collaborative action. Maidan 2016 is a step in this direction. We are immensely grateful to Laureus, FICCI and TISS along with numerous other organizations for joining us in making this happen at such a large scale.”
The two-day event covered a range of topics:
· interventions that have worked and which can be adapted by the education system to increase employability among youth in India.
· different methodologies that could be used in the classroom and outside it to engage children, promoting better learning.
· existing challenges in employability and livelihood in India,
· approaches and methods that have worked in achieving high employability, resulting in sustainable livelihood among youth.
About Magic Bus
Magic Bus is one of the largest poverty alleviation programmes in India, working with more than 400,000 children and 9000 volunteer mentors in 22 States and 58 districts of the country. We work with India’s poorest children and young people, taking them from a childhood full of challenges to a life with meaningful livelihoods. We equip young people with the skills and knowledge they need to grow up and move out of poverty.