REACH-Resource Enhancement Academy for Career Heights is a significant step forward by the Kerala State Women’s Development Corporation (KSWDC), under the Department of Women and Child Development, Govt. of Kerala in empowering women of Kerala through education. REACH, a professional finishing school was a project undertaken to professionally groom women from all strata of the society and prepare them for the corporate environment. Today REACH has made career dreams of many women into reality. Established in 2009, REACH- Resource Enhancement Academy for Career Heights is one of its kind professional grooming academies in the Government sector.
REACH was started off at a time when the concept of finishing schools was yet new to the State. KSWDC started REACH when it was recognized that enhancing employability skills among women was key to improving their job prospects. This initiative of the corporation is unique and stands out from other similar initiatives in the State because it exclusively caters to the skill development needs of women. It aims to bridge the gap between acquired skills and required skills and assist young women graduates to get placed in lucrative jobs. REACH does not cater to school students alone but also to college students and female graduates in making them job ready. This unique feature increases appeal for REACH Finishing Schools more to women in the age group of 18-35 yrs who are looking to enter the job industry, as they can undergo training without being stigmatized. The various courses of REACH are also planned and designed in such a way as to cater to requirements of all women in this age group.
KSWDC piloted the Finishing School initiative with REACH, Trivandrum in 2009 and the success of the programme led to the setting up of REACH, Kannur in 2011. The first and only finishing school initiative of the Kerala Government, REACH focuses on providing soft skill training to girl students and women belonging to low income groups.
- Students are given intensive training in life skills, body language, image development, communication skills, attitude, self-esteem, emotional intelligence, personal grooming and employability skills for sustenance and self employment.
- The first Govt. owned finishing school initiative that makes available world class training in employability skills to women from a poor socio-economic background.
- Placement assistance on successful completion of the training program for eligible trainees.
REACH brings the credibility of Govt. organization and the required corporate discipline to optimize the training benefit for the women youth of the state. Through its industry oriented employability skills gap training programs, REACH has been successful in training participants to develop confidence in application knowledge and soft skills that are key to the industry scenario.
REACH Team: the REACH leadership team comprises of professionals from field of IT, Education Management, Academia, projects, Research and skills training. The team has a unique blend of expertise from various domains which will help in efficient and effective training program management and delivery.