However, the Hope Foundation School in Kalasipalyam aims at bridging this divide by providing training and eventually employment to youngsters who are financially ill-equipped to do a regular computer course. The computer school has now become a reality offering hope to 230 young people who could never have thought of acquiring computer knowledge without paying the usual Rs 12,000 plus for tuition fees. The school focuses on providing entry level training to the students and provides training in MS Office, Corel Draw and Page Maker.
Graduates can work as DTP operators at the data entry level or as secretaries.
Francis, another graduate now makes Rs 5,000 a month and is currently an instructor at his own training centre in Jeevanbhima Nagar. For people who are in real need of help, we tend to waive the fees a bit because our basic concern is that these people can finally get a good job and support their families. In this aspect, we have received a lot of help from the government which has been really supportive and even companies like Lotus and Microsoft who have provided us with software. Ian wishes to set up more such centres in Bangalore. Currently there are 7 such institutes in India.