Scalability And PPP For Inclusion From The Grassroots
For any child a holistic makeover should include a complete transformation in the built environment. A good balance of emotional well-being, nutrition for the body and tracking progress in education. Along with the need in an infrastructural boost, we have to reform the current public education system in some of these government schools and plenty needs to be done.
The GVHSS Nadakavvu School (PRISM) in Tamil Nadu, has worked on transforming itself. A decade ago, the school for girls was standing with dilapidated buildings and failing student numbers a decade ago. Today the 120 years old all girls’ school is becoming a classic model for two important factors of scalability and replicability. It has multimedia classrooms, toilets, a multipurpose hall, interactive science center, an indoor stadium for sports, an equipped gymnasium, football and hockey ground with astro turf, industrial size kitchen and library among other improvements. With the help of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) the school lab was set up.
Working in silos is hugely tedious. With demographic figures of a country like India, collaborations in key to have maximum reach and impact. To enable the same, the program by Faizal & Shabana Foundation, part of KEF Holdings, was implemented through a PPP with the local government, which helped revive the school from ruins. The model work has spread to nearly 70 other schools and will reach another 1000 government schools as envisaged by the Kerala Government.
Today, the female literacy rate in India is at 54% with over 47% girls married before the legal age of 18. High cost of private education, need to work to support their families and little interest in studies are the reasons given by three in every four dropouts. On the other hand deep-rooted gender norms prevent households from sending girls to school with the belief that girl’s earnings will only benefit her marital family.
In a partnership with the NGO Concern India, Intuit India has initiated a project to sponsor the girl child for every female employee who joins Intuit India. In the first batch, 15 girl children received valuable inputs on coping with exam pressure and be involved in team building activities. The new women joiners also got a chance to meet the children whose education has been sponsored.
Corporates should empower prosperity around the world for not only their customers and employees but also to all members of society. Diversity and inclusion is crucial to focus on creating an environment that encourages everyone to grow.
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The CSR Journal Team
