KISS has taken up handicraft technical training under HRD scheme in collaboration with the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. The second phase of this program commenced on November 2018 at KISS’ main premises. Training is being imparted in trades like Terracotta, Paper Maché, Golden Grass and Wood Carving. Training sessions in these specialized skills are being imparted to over 160 student trainees in 8 batches. Our target is to train 20 students per batch for a duration of four months. In this span of time, 576 training hours (at 6 hours per day) are earmarked to cover the curriculum. 16 trained Master Trainers (two per batch) have been engaged to impart the assignments. The curriculum has both theoretical and practical components. Student trainees over 18 years of age, who display a keen interest in learning a trade and who are willing to undergo training beyond regular academics are selected as per GOI guidelines.

The program aims at building vocational skills in specialized areas for marketable skills enabling gainful engagement in future careers of the student trainees. KISS has made necessary arrangements allowing flexibility and adjustment of training time in reference to regular classes to avoid clashes and inconvenience. Through handicraft training program KISS aims to not only provide employment for the development of our economy but also to develop sensible artistic approach of self-expression for the artisans as handicrafts are important carriers of culture, tradition, and heritage.

The English Access Micro-Scholarship Program (Access Program) is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State, to provide significant English-language learning experiences to bright non-elite 13 to 20 year-old students. It also has the goal of improving students’ appreciation of U.S. culture and values, encouraging critical thinking and open mindedness, and improving performance in regular school classes. At KISS, the program provides a foundation of English language skills to 750 talented indigenous students. Thus far, KISS has hosted five programs of this initiative since its launch in 2009. The activities undertaken to fulfill the aim include project work, activities that promote reading with comprehension, quiz, role-play, skits, dialogue, dramatization, discussion, debate, language games, simulating, real life situation, using newspaper clipping, multimedia, internet, riddles and puzzles, and group work. Enhancement activities in the form of exposure visits to various locations This had a spill-over effect in raising the students’ performance in their regular academic activity. Many of our English Access tribal students have been successful in joining specialized higher education degrees like Law, Engineering (B.Tech), Medicine (MBBS), and Diplomas in various Engineering trades and Social Sciences.

From 2009, with the support of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), KISS has been endeavouring to hone the abilities of its Adolescents through Life Skills Education (LSE) based Adolescent Reproductive Sexual Health (ARSH) education in order to enable them to deal with the demands and challenges in their life effectively. The proposed intervention in KISS aims at building institutional capacity and networking with other potential institutions to overcome knowledge and skills deficit in the state for the promotion of LSE. During these years, several initiatives have been undertaken for promotion of LSE among tribal adolescents in KISS. KISS has emerged as a resource agency with a critical mass of resource persons and a wide range of communication and training materials with socio-cultural sensitivity. Most of the resource materials used for LSE programme in the state were developed and tested at KISS. At KISS, LSE sessions are transacted to students of grades 6th to 9th through co-curricular approaches by trained teachers covering over 9,000 tribal adolescents. At the college level and school level peer educators have been trained in the life skills based SRH education and are encouraged to promote life skills education and address myths and misconceptions about ARSH among peers.

Mission UDAY is a joint initiative by REC Foundation of Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Government of Odisha and the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS). This unique partnership between a leading development agency, state government, academic institution and corporate sector, is built on the philosophy that CSR should be the means, and not the end.

The project aims to build leadership and social entrepreneurship skills of 1000 young boys and girls, and inculcate values of active citizenship, so that these young people can, in turn, engage in social development processes in 1000 remote habitations of the State, and influence at least 20,000 more like-minded youth to widen the footprint of change.

The project will be initially implemented in Koraput, Malkangiri and Rayagada Districts, in close collaboration with the local administrations. The project was launched in May 2018, in the august presence of Shri Ramesh Majhi, Hon’ble Minister ST & SC Development; Shri Achyuta Samanta, Hon’ble Member of Parliament; Dr. Jennifer Butler, UNFPA Asia Pacific, and OIC UNFPA India and Bhutan; Shri S.K Gupta, Director Rural Electrification Corporation Ltd, and Smt. Deepa Prasad, State Programme Coordinator, UNFPA. The event had a participation of more than 250 youth from districts and officials from different departments.