Our Approach to Education & Skilling:

SCMLD is the educational and training wing of the Sadhana Educational & Empowerment Foundation, a public charitable Trust & Society. We aspire towards a harmonious, happy, healthy, wealthy, strong, green, clean, safe, secure, active, progressive, most respected, influencing and inspiring India of enchanting diversities, governed by a truly democratic and participative political system.

Our country has the potential to rise as a beacon for others. However, this is possible only if our people are awakened, ignited, enlightened and made confident, courageous, concerned, competent, rational, scientific, sensitive, tolerant, soulful and self-governed by integrity, truth, character, compassion, empathy, acceptance and the spirit of giving, forgiving and serving. This must be the mission of our educational system and the policy and regulatory direction on education and skilling.

India has the capacity to command tremendous respect and influence. This is more important than superpower status in its mere military sense – our human capital cries to be developed and utilized with vision, passion and purpose. Today’s formal education system, which is centred on lecturing, memorizing, and copying without real knowledge building, individual skilling or citizenship development, cannot actualize this dream. We need to re-invent our education system, blending ancient wisdom and modern discoveries and requirements.

Mere information transmitted through lectures, obtained from Google, hearsay (Facebook, WhatsApp included) that is influenced by a biased and business minded visual and print media are only making people illusory and agitated. It shapes opinions, perceptions and behaviours without any rational thinking, objective study, research or real articulation. It exploits people’s gullibility and champions the intellectual laziness, blindness, superiority complex and lethargy of the so called qualified. True comprehensive progress requires enlightening education and deliverable skilling. The time has come to initiate this change. It is now or never. Ivory tower top down prescriptive policies borrowed from the west, considering that it is the best, won’t build India’s destiny. We need bottom up policy planning and implementation, tapping the ingenuity and diversity of wisdom abundant in our country, blended with the best from the world.

The above aspiration is not rhetoric or a utopian fantasy. It is possible. It can be done. And it should be initiated.

It is certainly a long, arduous journey that must also at once be collaborative and collective. It might seem like an audacious goal but it is our firm conviction that this is our destiny and it is achievable with the right amount of energy exerted in the right direction. It is even possible to make this transformation in a time bound manner, if a small fraction of our teachers, institutions, educationists, parents, students, bureaucrats, politicians, media persons, entrepreneurs, corporate leaders, and the chairpersons of regulatory bodies are determined to make it happen. We need less than a decade to usher in an education system aimed at the above.

What is required is unyielding determination and unwavering action. Not empty talks or fiery speeches on relatively insignificant issues, faked as assertiveness towards the protection of rights and entitlements of some. It is only noise that pollutes without envisioning outcomes. It is our duty to work with integrity and purpose. It is the duty of the government to facilitate work and work ready education & skilling.

It was with this thought and guided by these principles that we established SCMLD in 2004 as a replicable model to develop 150 contributing citizens every year to work towards this gigantic task and audacious national mission.

Sadhana’s programmes (from 2004 to the academic year 2014-15):

Initially our programme was a two-year full time PGDM. Then the nomenclature and curriculum were modified to Post Graduate Programme in Executive Leadership (PGPEL) and Advanced Programme in Executive Leadership (APEL), both of 11 months’ duration each. In 2012 the course was re-christened as SCMLD’s Programme in Executive Leadership (SPEL) and SCMLD’s Advanced Programme in Executive Leadership (SAPEL). These changes were necessitated by legal regulations that came up during this period.

Through these courses SCMLD focused on moulding individuals with skills, varied competencies and leadership to work with dedication, discipline, determination, and a sense of purpose. SCMLD operated and still operates in the non-formal sector. We have no formal affiliation to or approval or recognition from any university or statutory bodies or the government. We issue our own certificates to those who pass our well-structured and transparent evaluation systems, because our aim was and still is to develop performers, not holders of paper qualifications, the majority of whom are unemployable. If the system is not changed it will continue to produce more unemployables. Furthermore, there are chances of multiplying this danger with Google, WhatsApp and Facebook information being mistaken for knowledge. Knowledge has to be acquired and attained. Information collected and stored in equipments is not knowledge – Knowledge which is in the heart and head delivered by hands as work and expressed by behaviours. Inputs not used or practised are not knowledge. Knowing which is not lived experience is mere Information. Evidence of real education is what one does and why one does it. Skill determines quality of work.

What SCMLD has achieved:

Over the last ten years, Sadhana through SCMLD has facilitated executive level employment to 1501 graduates with an additional 47 venturing into entrepreneurship and business. Every student of SCMLD is either an executive or entrepreneur today. Excepting 19 every student was placed before passing out, during the last 10 years as promised. Note that none of them was from the 99% percentile category.

It is our belief that when individuals succeed, the nation progresses. And for success one must be prepared to work hard and intelligently as appropriate to the context and purpose. SCMLD strives to make its students work-ready by not only challenging them to stretch to their limits but also by inculcating in them, through a variety of methods, the values and habits of leadership during its process of learning facilitation. The results that follow – the ability to work hard stress free and the spirit of leadership – will never desert SCMLD’s alumni. They are standing out wherever they are with these qualities demonstrated at work.

The New Initiatives:

Sadhana through SCMLD is now embarking on another more fulfilling and meaningful journey:

Of empowering girl children (graduates) from the economically weaker strata so that they can emerge as executives in the corporate world or entrepreneurs as per their interests, aptitude, capacity and determination. It is free of cost to them through sponsorship.

AND

Of offering other transformational short duration interventional training programs on leadership, functional and technical topics of relevance for organisations, working people and other individuals for funding the above.

The underlying objective of our efforts is to offer support in and, facilitation of human resource development, citizenship development, family development, organisational development and thus assist in nation building through education, training and other complementing support services.

The programmes on offer now:

(a) The 7-month full time ‘Post Graduate Programme in Business & Executive Leadership’ and award of ‘Sadhana Fellowship’ for lady students.

Students will be groomed, coached, and mentored to emerge as wholesome and soulful individuals with all relevant competencies, leadership habits, citizenship values, positive attitudes, and action orientation to make things happen. India needs more doers today. Amidst abundance of qualified graduates and post graduates, there is acute shortage of employable and entrepreneurial youth. Dedication, loyalty, values, ethics, conviction, commitment and sense of responsibility and ownership are absent. Organisations are looking for people with knowledge, skills, aptitude, positive attitudes and the above universal values. Sadhana is attempting to transform young girls and place them in executive level employment in the private sector, while enabling at least 10% of them towards entrepreneurship. This will be replicated in several centres during the next decade through committed social entrepreneurs and partners who will support the programme – we intend to offer at such places admissions on sponsorship as well as on a fee-basis, allowing the initiative to sustain itself and to cover more beneficiaries.

Currently we dream to empower at least 25000 girls all over India over a 7-10 year period. The journey is beginning in Pune. Since, Sadhana follows the principles of conservation, preservation, and regeneration of resources, frugality, simplicity, humility, optimum utilisation of resources and collaboration are the cornerstones of its edifice. Taking less and giving more is our dictum. Hence, instead of borrowing and spending for a huge campus or physical infrastructure in one place, Sadhana has designed and developed this ‘high in value’ model which can be replicated anywhere through like-minded social entrepreneurs. First launch is in Pune in June 2017 with maximum 60 students.

Making the ordinary extraordinary is Sadhana’s mission since 2004. As stated earlier, a real education does not require huge buildings. What it needs is great teachers, purpose driven and impactful learning processes, non-negotiable quality standards and uncompromising and transparent assessments for learning outcomes, alongside intellectually curious and motivated students who want to make a difference. Today standardised intellect is available for a price – for intuitive and heartful intelligence with applied common sense and human values it takes something more.

Pause in 2015-16:

Since SCMLD was shifting to the present premises at Vishrantwadi from its existing Model Colony Campus (both in Pune), in 2015 no admission was offered for the academic year 2015 – 16. We have now opened admissions for our above stated 7-month full time ‘Post Graduate Programme in Business & Executive Leadership‘. Admissions will be based on merit and potential. Applicants having a minimum of 60% marks in Classes 10, 12 and at graduation are eligible for the programme.

Sadhana Fellows:

On passing and obtaining the certificate on ‘Post Graduate Programme in Business & Executive Leadership’, there will be conditions to be fulfilled to earn the Sadhana Fellowship award. Click here for details.

For course structure and other details on the ‘Post Graduate Programme in Business & Executive Leadership’, click here.

(b) Other Short Duration Transformational Leadership Programs (for Organisations and Individuals interested in – Customised or Open):

• Inner Engineering for Excellence, Fulfilment & Self Expansion.

• Inspirational Leadership for Performance Excellence.

• HR Architecture for Building Soulful Organizations.

• Soulful Performance Management System.

• Being an Impactful & Transformational Trainer.

• Living Happy & Working Great Every Day for Success Unlimited.

• Faculty / Teacher Development Programs for School Teachers, and College Faculty.

• Customised ‘Work & Life Leadership’ Programs for Workers and Non-Executive level Employees for productivity, quality, health, healthy habits, harmonious life & work and so on.

  For more details regarding above programs, click here.

(c) Functional and Technical Training (On various topics customised to organisations, or open programmes).

For details, click here.