Wadhwani Foundation in association with Narayana Healthcare (NH) has successfully completed its pilot training program designed for NH staff. The program was aimed to fill the void for critical skills needed in the healthcare industry, which are missing from the current nursing education programs. It was a part of WF's vision of a skilled India by leveraging technology and transformative learning techniques.

WF worked closely with practitioners at NH to identify critical nursing and patient care skills, job needs, required training processes, as well as the curriculum and generic content. The carefully designed job competency syllabus included typical medical procedures, as well as functional English, life and workplace skills, basic IT skills, occupational safety, health and environment training, and medical math. All courses were deployed using an easily accessible online technology platform, reducing the dependence on and workload of teachers, while providing flexibility for students to study at their own pace and location. WF has reached more than 1,700 nurses and nursing assistants across 20 Narayana Health centers in a span of few months.

Elaborating further on the successful partnership with Narayana Health, Mr Ajay Kela, CEO, WF said, "Job outcomes should be the main criteria by which we evaluate skill training and the best way to develop such courses is to work closely with the employers. In partnership with Narayana Health, one of India's largest healthcare service providers, we have successfully created a technology-enabled curriculum for comprehensive training of healthcare workers that will be available to the industry. This pilot is a part of the foundation's larger vision to develop a market ready skilled force across industries through our innovative and scalable technology solution. Our partnership with Narayana Health is a positive first step in that direction."

Narayana Health is mainstreaming Wadhwani Foundation's initiative as part of its comprehensive professional development plan for all employees.

WF has now begun to roll out its healthcare curriculum to other healthcare providers. The roadmap also includes deployment of NH internal training in feeder and community colleges, and other training providers. It is also in discussions with AICTE and the Healthcare Sector Skills Council to make the courseware a part of the national school and college curriculum through the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF).