There is a quiet excitement in a classroom at a government nursing college in Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh. While preparing questions, students’ eyes are fixed on their teacher’s face. “Tell me what you’ve learned so far in Deutsche (German).”
A symphony of voices emerges from the other side. With uncertainty in their eyes and shy smiles on their lips, many of the students, hailing from poor families in the hinterland of the state, shape simple German sentences with obvious effort. Sometimes laughter fills the room as they share the relief, pride, and joy of learning something new.
The young trainees are nursing graduates from districts across Andhra Pradesh who are learning German under the International Skills Program launched by the state government through the AP State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) and its subsidiary, Overseas Manpower Company Andhra Pradesh (OMCAP).
“It is not easy,” admits G Venkata Lakshmi, a native of Timmapuram village in Bheemunipatnam mandal of Visakhapatnam district. “But every new word feels like a step closer to my goal. I never thought I would speak German,” says the 32-year-old woman, who after working as a nurse in a private hospital in Visakhapatnam for a year, packed her bags and moved to Guntur’s nursing college to attend German classes.
35 year old nursing graduate G. Sandeep recently enrolled for German classes in hopes of finding employment in Germany. At home in Jammalamadugu in Kadapa district, she has a 10-month-old son, who is her “treasure of happiness” and is almost impossible for her to separate from. Still, Sandeep says a well-paid job abroad seems to be the only way out of his family’s dire financial crunch. “I hate the idea of going away from my family, but I have to do it for their happy and secure future,” he says softly.
Language breaks down barriers
As part of the Skill International Initiative, APSSDC and OMCAP have engaged partners such as Indo Euro Synchronization and Hello Language Center to implement the German Training-Linked International Placement Program for Nursing Professionals in Andhra Pradesh.
The training is open to B.Sc, M.Sc Nursing students and post-B.Sc Nursing graduates with minimum experience of six months. Hundreds of young people are being trained under this fully-funded programme, which helps them secure placements in Europe, particularly in healthcare, hospitality and tech professions.
German is being taught to students at the Government College of Nursing in Nellore district. , Photo Courtesy: T. Vijaya Kumar
APSSDC officials say it was initially difficult to convince nursing graduates to enroll for the Skills International Initiative. D. Manohar, executive director of the corporation, recalled a series of brainstorming sessions with college principals and training partners to understand what nursing graduates from the state really wanted and what stopped them from considering overseas opportunities.
The discussion moved beyond logistical challenges and the team learned that many youth were hesitant with the idea of working abroad due to limited experience with the idea. “We found that except in a few districts like Cuddapah and East and West Godavari, there was no real tradition of foreign placements,” the official said. He explained that most youth did not know how to start and some were even afraid of how society would evaluate them.
To help them overcome psychological barriers, the department printed pamphlets, organized awareness camps and had officials travel from one college to another. Still, classrooms remained sparsely filled until the idea of language became a bridge.
Realizing that the language route would open new doors, the state launched Project Vasudha in 2024, a German language training and placement program for nursing graduates. “The results are encouraging. Of the 50 nurses who completed the training, 10 have already been placed in Germany, and 2,713 others are undergoing language training,” says Ganesh Kumar, MD and CEO of the State Skill Development Corporation.
To avail the benefits of language proficiency, the government went a step further and this year through GO No. 121, directed all 13 government nursing colleges in the state to include foreign language training in their B.Sc (Nursing) curriculum. According to GO, training in more languages like Italian, Japanese and English (OET/IELTS) will be added soon.
Challenges
Most candidates struggle with grammar and gender, two of the most difficult aspects of German, but Y. Divya says that German is a “structured” language. “Once you understand the logic of it, it sounds really mathematical,” she adds.
27 year old trainee Y from Bheemunipatnam. “The problem is that in German, every noun has a gender – masculine, feminine or neuter,” says Heiney. “But there are very few logical rules to rely on. So, in most cases, you just have to remember them.”
Teaching a foreign language comes with its challenges. Many candidates do not even have a basic understanding of English grammar, making it difficult for them to understand the nuances of German. As a result, the learning process is often slow and requires extra patience and guidance, explains Divya. The minimum marks to pass the exam is 60.
A large number of trainees also drop out. Some people lose interest or struggle to continue lessons while personal or domestic problems force others to discontinue their classes.
online training
Parallelly, Project SarvSetu was launched to provide online German training to ITI students with the help of Indian expatriate professionals in Germany. Currently 150 students of ITI are learning German.
“At first, I thought learning German online would be schwierig (difficult), but now it seems scattered (Exciting)!” says U. Ramesh, an ITI student from Thekkali in Srikakulam district, laughing. He says it’s fun to see how his pronunciation is improving day by day. “My notebooks are full of German words with Telugu meanings and my phone is full of recorded pronunciations,” he says.
V. Prajwala of Kalasapadu village in Cuddapah district belongs to a group of 30 young foreign job aspirants learning German at a social welfare hostel opposite the BR Stadium in Guntur district. The 25-year-old feels that the authorities should spread more awareness about overseas job opportunities to ensure better participation. “Neither I nor any of my friends knew about the Skill Development Corporation initiative,” she admits.
Prajwala says she is determined to make the most of this opportunity to break the cycle of poverty that has burdened her family for generations. She says she knows many young nurses who want to learn German, but are unable to leave their current employment and undertake 8 months of training due to family and financial commitments.
Her friend Mattie Amritavalli from Bhimavaram in West Godavari district has recently given her A1-level German exam and is confident of getting a good score. She says, “Despite facing severe financial difficulties, my parents gave me everything they could, ensuring that I never lacked the things I needed. Now, it is my turn to give back to them.”
Ganesh Kumar says that the State Skill Development Corporation has set up 192 skill centers across the state covering all 175 assembly constituencies. “Last year alone, around 4.1 lakh youth were trained in various sectors, equipping them with the necessary skills to secure both white and blue collar jobs,” he says.
Till now, 92,000 candidates have got jobs in companies across the country through the quarterly job fairs of the corporation.
Additionally, 100 Chief Minister Skills Centers of Excellence (CM-SEC) in government and private engineering colleges and 485 employability skill centers in degree colleges help students be industry ready.
future plans
To expand its training programs, APSSDC and OMCAP have signed MoUs with 10 training partners and Letters of Intent with five organizations, creating a network that extends to cities like Guntur, Tirupati, Visakhapatnam, Kurnool, Rajamahendravaram and Anantapur.
The Department of Social Welfare and Tribal Welfare has also joined the initiative, with currently 155 candidates from marginalized communities undergoing special training.
need employment
After the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, there has been a strong need to create new employment opportunities, as most of the industries have been concentrated in the former capital Hyderabad. To bridge this gap, the state government has shifted its focus to skilling the workforce for foreign employment, especially in European countries that offer promising career opportunities.
The Society for Employment Generation and Enterprise Development in Andhra Pradesh (SEEDAP), one of the largest skill organizations in the country and the nodal agency for implementing various Union and State Government skill programmes, also conducts comprehensive German training from levels A1 to B2, delivered by native German trainers. Of the two batches of 56 youth, 18 have been placed in Germany. “Another two batches of 60 youth are undergoing training,” says P. Narayana Swamy, chief executive officer of the society.
The government is eager to capitalize on this opportunity because nursing careers in Germany offer high demand, diverse roles, competitive compensation and benefits, career progression pathways, and a vibrant tapestry of cultural diversity, Swamy says.
