CSR News: Corporates Join Hands to Welcome Government School Students Back to their Schools after a 9-month Absence

The ongoing COVID-19 crisis and the ensuing lockdowns in India have greatly interrupted and impacted the educational lives of students in India. With Government Schools opening in the new year, Embassy Group has mobilized their corporate and NGO partners, under their Corporate Connect Program, to work with the Government and Department of Education to prepare schools for the return of their students.

Embassy and their corporate partner in health, Cerner, have collaborated to design a targeted program that could tackle common health issues in a comprehensive manner – from preventive to detective. Joined by Swiss Re Foundation and Cognizant, the program that has been present in Government Schools in 2016, has strengthened during the Covid-19 pandemic to encompass over 45,000 students in Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Noida, Chennai and Hosur. With the onset of the virus, they bolstered their existing programs including the distribution of health kits, preventive awareness and top-to-bottom school maintenance.

Together, the corporate health consortium has distributed preventive health kits to students across India. Each kit safeguards against the virus, as well as bolsters each student’s general hygiene. The kit contains handwash, bath soaps, washing soap, re-usable cloth masks, shampoo, a toothbrush, toothpaste, a tongue cleaner, a nail cutter and a comb.

Congratulating the corporates and making an appeal for others organisations to join this partnership, Sri S.R. Umashankar, IAS, Principal Secretary to Government, Primary & Secondary Education, Government of Karnataka, said “It is extremely heartening to see corporates such as Embassy Group providing a model for partnering with the Government in providing equitable and safe education to our underprivileged children. We are very pleased to renew this meaningful partnership to strengthen our existing education system, and hope such initiatives encourage other corporates to join us.”

On these initiatives, Mrs. K S Vinoda, Headmistress of Government Higher Primary School, Vasanthnagar, said, “Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, schools could not run in their usual manner. With Vidyagama classes starting, Embassy provided us with the necessary sanitizers and face shields, keeping the safety of students and teachers in mind. They also provided their expert facilities team for deep cleaning and sanitization of the school before our students return for their Vidyagama classes. I thank Embassy Group from the bottom of my heart for all their support, which has led to the betterment of our students’ futures, particularly in this challenging situation.”

In addition, with the aim of creating campuses conducive to learning, the Group already maintains 17 Government Schools on a daily basis. Throughout the pandemic, Embassy continued to provide maintenance to their Government Schools on a weekly basis. In preparation of schools opening, they conducted deep cleaning and sanitization including of the water and sump tanks throughout the month of December. To further equip schools with safe, well maintained and hygienic infrastructure for students to return to, the Group conducted extensive repairs and renovations for 10 Government Schools in Bangalore through the multiple lockdowns.

Supplementing the Government’s initiatives to safeguard students and teachers from the virus, Embassy has furnished their adopted Government Schools with sanitizer foot stands and enough sanitizer for daily usage. Additionally, Embassy aimed to preserve the health and safety of teachers, who are also at risk of contracting the disease, by donating face shields across 126 Government Schools in Bangalore.

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