Dr A Ramesh Arumugam

On 23 September 2024, Dr A Ramesh Arumugam was invited by the National Centre for Social Research and the NatCen International Academy in London to participate in a workshop on “Transformational Education Interventions: Insights from the United Kingdom and Kuwait.” He was invited as a speaker to discuss “Public–Private Partnerships in Education: Opportunities and Challenges.” The session was chaired by Dr Sherine EI Taraboulsi-McCarthy, who was the Director of NatCen International at the time.

In September and October 2022, Dr A Ramesh Arumugam was invited to deliver a series of workshops for prisoners at Sutton Highview Prison (for both men and women). The aims of the workshops were to develop knowledge and skills in accounting, finance, and UK taxation; to provide an understanding of business start‑up processes, including entrepreneurship and to equip prisoners with practical accounting and finance skills that would enable them, upon release, to secure employment or establish their own businesses, thereby contributing to socio‑economic sustainability. This initiative formed part of the rehabilitation programme for Category C prisoners.

The experience gained from the Kickstart Project, Dr A Ramesh Arumugam was appointed as the Director of the Kickstart Project in September 2020. He was responsible and accountable for the entire project from preparing and submitting the grant application, securing the grant and delivering the project.  He has successfully applied and secured a grant of £540,362.00 from the UK Government under the Kickstart project. This project was a largest successful story that he solely initiated and completed with a dedicated small team. As a Government Gateway for this project, he worked directly with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), local DWP (Job Centres) and partnered with 28 local employers (SMEs) in the South England region, creating 63 new paid job placements for young people (new graduates) for a six‑month period. The UK Government spent £1.1 billion through DWP to combat youth unemployment after Covid-19 under this project between November 2020 and December 2021. The grant covered employees’ wages, NI contributions and training costs, aiming to help 16 - 24 year‑old young people (new graduates) move into sustained long‑term employment. He created the kickstart training programme, which was reviewed and approved by the DWP for delivery. The Kickstart training was designed as a 3‑stage programme: Stage 1: Introduction to Kickstart Training (includes 6 units), Stage 2: Mind‑set for Employment (includes 5 units) and Stage 3: Long‑term Employment (includes 2 units).

The impact and outputs: This Kickstart training provided impactful benefits for all 63 employees by paid employment and 28 employers with extra workforce (it did not cost them a penny, as it was fully funded by the UK Government and it helped them to identify local young talents). Many of the young people (new graduates) continued their employment with the same Kickstart employer, some progressed to better jobs and a few started their own micro/small businesses. Overall, it was a great success story for the UK Government, employers, young people (new graduates) and as a Government Gateway, He was proud to have led this project. The success of this project gave him a huge boost and confidence in delivering similar projects.