International Literacy Day 2022: CSR for Narrowing the Divide

The COVID-19 crisis has deepened the pre-existing inequalities in access to meaningful literacy learning opportunities, disproportionally affecting more than 700 million non-literate young people and adults. In the COVID response plans within the country, youth and adult literacy were absent while numerous literacy programmes had been forced to halt their usual modes of operation.

Even in times of global crisis, governments and CSR initiatives are making efforts to find alternative ways to ensure the continuity of learning, including distance learning, often in combination with in-person learning. Access to literacy learning opportunities, however, has not been evenly distributed. The rapid shift to distance learning also highlighted the persistent digital divide in terms of connectivity, infrastructure, and the ability to engage with technology, as well as disparities in other services such as access to electricity, which has limited learning options.

Why is literacy important?

The pandemic was a reminder of the critical importance of literacy. Beyond its intrinsic importance as part of the right to education, literacy empowers individuals. It improves their lives by expanding their capabilities to choose a kind of life they can value. It is also a driver for sustainable development. Literacy is an integral part of education and lifelong learning premised on humanism as defined by Sustainable Development Goal 4. Literacy, therefore, is central to a human-centred recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.

What is International Literacy Day?

Since 1967, International Literacy Day (ILD) celebrations have taken place annually around the world on September 8 to remind the public of the importance of literacy as a matter of dignity and human rights, and to advance the literacy agenda toward a more literate and sustainable society. Despite progress made, literacy challenges persist with over 700 million young people and adults lacking basic literacy skills today.

“Through awareness initiatives like International Literacy Day, we have an opportunity to develop innovative, effective strategies and teaching methodologies to bridge the educational divide in adults and children alike. Education and skill development have always a preferred area of intervention for corporate benevolence, more so in light of the increasing talent shortages being witnessed across industries, which highlight the pressing need for skilling and literacy among the potential talent pool. Mphasis too strives to pitch in towards the collective responsibility of promoting literacy in the country,” says Srikanth Karra, CHRO, Mphasis.

International Literacy Day 2022

The theme for International Literacy Day 2022 is “Transforming Literacy Learning Spaces” and its focus will be urging people to rethink the fundamental importance of literacy learning spaces to build resilience and ensure quality, equitable, and inclusive education for all individuals around the globe.

This year, Unesco and all the other stakeholders are focusing more on the changing definition of ‘rapid changes’ in the context of the coronavirus pandemic that brought the whole world to a standstill in 2020 and affected hundreds of millions of lives around the globe. “In the aftermath of the pandemic, nearly 24 million learners might never return to formal education, out of which, 11 million are projected to be girls and young women,” data from Unesco shows.

So, educators, experts, policy-makers, and other stakeholders will come together this year to talk and find solutions pertaining to bringing back children and others to school and enhancing the learning atmosphere around the globe with the help of technology, especially keeping in mind deadly situations such as pandemic and wars.

CSR programmes for literacy

Making inclusive technology-enabled literacy programmes accessible requires efforts within and outside the education sector given the cross-sectoral roots of disadvantages and educational marginalization faced by non-literate youth and adults. This includes online/offline technology-enabled learning, facilitating connectivity of learners, and the use of mixed distance learning strategies, such as television, radio and telephones, distribution of printed materials, and online learning. Here are the CSR initiatives for these purposes.

Marico CSR’s Commitment to Spread English Literacy

Marico Limited, one of India’s leading FMCG companies has, over the years, created a strong purpose-led connect for one of their signature brands- Nihar Shanti.  The brand has always championed education and skill empowerment and formed the Nihar Shanti Pathshala Funwala initiative to take this ahead in 2017. Having made a considerable impact since its inception, Marico Limited aims to educate over 10 lakh children in improving their English reading and speaking skills by FY25.

The Nihar Shanti Pathshala Funwala (NSPF) programme is focused on upskilling and empowering the government school-teachers to resolve the pressing issue of lack of consistency, and fluency in English Literacy, in the Hindi-speaking belt. Currently operating in 5 states— Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhattisgarh, the initiative has benefited over 4.17 Lakh students and 2.89 Lakh teachers in FY22. NSPF intends to increase the proficiency level of reading and speaking capabilities among the students from underserved areas in the 5 states.

In FY22, Marico launched the Nihar Skills Academy, as the next milestone towards deeper implementation of the brand purpose. The NSPF and Nihar Skills Academy collaborated with 3 implementation partners in FY22, to impart skill-based education, followed by placement opportunities to women and the youth of the country.

Speaking about their efforts on World Literacy Day, Mr. Amit Bhasin, Chief Legal Officer & Group General Counsel and Secretary, CSR Committee, Marico Limited said, “Purpose has been an integral part of the Nihar Shanti brand. We have always been dedicated towards creating a lasting impact by focusing on education and skill development in India, especially through our efforts under the Nihar Shanti Pathshala Funwala initiative. This World Literacy Day, we are committed to expand the scope and footprint of this program and aim to increase the English proficiency in 10 lakh students from underserved areas by 2025.”

Over the years, the initiative has also created contextualised content and comprehensive training processes to improve the teachers’ subject-matter knowledge to help them better engage and teach students. The NSPF initiative focuses on English learning solutions for government schoolteachers while collaborating with various state governments to provide quality teaching material. For students, NSPF designed a scalable and fun-based learning model, supported by online as well as offline tools to help boost overall literacy quotient in India.

Staying at par with technological advancements, NSPF has also created a WhatsApp Enterprise model-based learning programs to upgrade teachers’ capabilities in learning and imparting English literacy. In FY22, WhatsApp (online) as well as workbook (offline)-led education was imparted in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Bihar, and Chhattisgarh.

Embassy with Room to Read India

Room to Read India’s Literacy Programme aims to develop both literacy skills and reading habits among school children. Embassy has partnered with Room to Read for developing ‘Co-scholastics – setting up learning environment – Libraries’ with the project – Improving Literacy in Primary Schools. The objectives of the project are access to children’s books that could improve the reading habit, providing a child-friendly literary environment, professional development of teachers and principals to enhance the library programme and the curriculum taught in the school.

CSR of Mphasis

Mphasis has actively worked to improve the literacy levels in children with initiatives such as Akanksha and Pratham Education Foundation. Says Srikanth Karra, CHRO, Mphasis, “In line with its CSR strategy of improving learning outcomes among children, Mphasis has partnered with The Akanksha Foundation to provide high quality education to 1500 school children from low-income communities enabling them to excel in core academics skills and to assist their socio-emotional development. Headstreams’ innovative programme is designed to improve learning outcomes of government school students through the use of technology, focused curriculum, and a proprietary play-based learning methodology. We supported more than 5000 students across 40 government schools in Karnataka through this CSR initiative. Pratham helps the youth and students above the age of 10 to think critically, understand real world problems logically and enable them to solve them using computational thinking. Mphasis has also been associated with SOS Children’s Villages of India over many years to support children’s education and holistic development via their residential care model.”

He adds, “Our CSR arm, the Mphasis F1 Foundation works for socially excluded and economically disadvantaged groups through disruptive and tech-based solutions in the areas of livelihood and education.” The company has also aimed at improving higher education with initiatives at stellar universities such as Ashoka University, Plaksha University and IIM-B. They have set up research facilities, scholarships and built accessible and inclusive infrastructure at Plaksha. Mphasis in collaboration with The International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore pioneered the Centre of Excellence for Cognitive Computing, a Center of Excellence which aims to build a research center solving for challenges in education, accessibility and enterprises.

Adult Literacy Programme by TCS

In order to address the low literacy rate in India, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) devised the Adult Literacy Programme (ALP) in 2000, to augment the Government’s efforts to improve adult literacy. The ALP is intended to promote and strengthen adult education, particularly that of women, and to extend educational options to those adults who have lost the opportunity to access formal education or are above school age.

The award-winning programme runs on Tata’s Computer-Based Functional Literacy software (CBFL), which uses a combination of methods to teach a non-literate person to read in a short amount of time and makes use of commonly used words in the learner’s mother tongue. The ALP aims to help learners reach functional literacy in 50 to 55 hours. To implement the programme, TCS enters into an agreement with local NGOs and provides financial support to assist in conducting these courses. The technology and consultancy firm also works closely with government agencies, prison authorities and academic institutions to implement the programme in local languages.

It is not just the CBFL programme’s components that are unique, but also the thinking behind it. Standard adult-literacy projects that teach reading, writing and arithmetic require trained teachers and classrooms, and anywhere between six months to two years to complete. The costs and drop-out rates are often high as well. BFL, however, blends TCS’ expertise in the creation of software with exemplary research done by the National Literacy Mission Authority (NLMA) to overcome some of these issues. Since the programme is multimedia-driven, it does not require trained teachers. This results in a reduction in the cost of eradicating illiteracy.