Celebrating inclusive employment
On this International Day of People with Disability we celebrate the achievements of Centurion University who have an amazing partnership with India’s largest coffee chain, Café Coffee Day, leading to the employment of hundreds of differently abled young people.
Centurion has adapted its Coffee Brew Master program to meet the needs of differently abled students, particularly for Deaf students. At the completion of their studies, this program places students in Café Coffee Day cafes around the country. To date, over 480 differently abled students have been trained as café personnel and placed in Café Coffee Day cafes.
K Ramakrishnan, president-marketing Café Coffee Day said, “The silent brewmasters are an integral part of our cafe environment and we value them immensely. ”
To make this possible for Deaf students, the Centurion teachers as well as the Café Coffee Day staff members undergo sign language training. Café Coffee Day proudly refer to their Deaf employees as “Silent Brew masters”.
Gurudev Hansdah was rejected by a number of educational institutes because he has only one hand. However, Gurudev was accepted into Centurion’s Coffee Brew Master program and now works at Café Coffee Day in Bhubaneswar.
Surely we need more examples of disability inclusive education that is integrated and aspirational leading to mainstream employment.
Do you know of any other examples? We would love to hear from you and learn how we can be more inclusive.