Role Of CSR In Supporting Child Education

Sadly, in 2020 the literacy rate in India is 71.2 % whereas the highest in the world is 100%, kudos to North Korea! Isn’t that a huge difference? Why can’t Indians access free and high-quality child education?

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can choose to change the world.

-Nelson Mandela

It’s the key to the socio-economic growth and development of the country. Education has the power to curb poverty. It can fill the gaps our country has been bearing for the longest time.

Currently, government schools are the primary source of education. They have introduced numerous policies to increase the literacy rate in India. From imparting quality education to infrastructure, the major concern is to hike the enrollment of students in the schools.

That said, considering that 50 million people are poverty-ridden in India, it is unfair to expect them to enroll their children in schools. Therefore, free education is what we must aim for in the coming years.

Benefits of Education

Visualize a country where every mind is civilized. Education can actively reduce the crime index and provide for a safe place to live. The number of rapes that take place can be minimized or better, eradicated. A knowledgeable being will never stoop to such a low level of conduct.

Did you know, the government has made it a compulsion for huge corporate setups with a minimum annual turnover of 500 crores to allocate 2% of their total annual revenue to CSR?

What is CSR?

Corporate social responsibility is a kind of business model where companies can socially impact society along with growth in their area of work. The shareholders and employees look forward to being associated with a company that supports a cause they believe in.

Companies that integrate CSR observe various advantages, such as increased sales and profits, improved brand image and reputation, enhanced customer loyalty and tax benefit. In other words, sincere efforts to help society has proven to be beneficial for the companies itself. Therefore, people view CSR as a profit center.

The support and assistance that NGOs receive through CSR make them one of the beneficiaries of this initiative. This initiative covers many issues like women empowerment, eradicating poverty, free education and saving the environment.

CSR can prove to be a boon to child education

Now let’s shed some light on how CSR can benefit child education in India. This is how companies play a huge role in the education of a child.

• When a company invests in the infrastructure, the school becomes more hygienic. Hence, it has better access to clean bathrooms and playing grounds due to which more parents enroll their kids in such schools.
• Besides, the building becomes more attractive and strikes an interest in the students to maintain higher attendance. The positive environment promotes a good state of mind which increases the willingness to learn.
• Further, when funds are available to provide transport facilities, children from far off places can cut down on traveling costs leading to more enrolments.
• CSR helps in crafting a better curriculum or course.
• CSR can improve health and nutrition. For instance, free meals can also be distributed to the underprivileged during school hours.
• Lastly, every child receives learning materials which makes the experience more enriching which directly affects child education.

The company that invests in strengthening school infrastructure, supply teaching-learning materials, designing integrated curriculum and course content, use of technology in monitoring, assessment of schools and most important mobilization of students to improve enrolment and attendance have a big impact. Above all, it takes us a step forward towards achieving our goals.

Conclusion

CSR has proven to be one of the main sources of financing education among the underprivileged. For instance, the TATA group has been at the top, providing quality education through CSR to the underprivileged. It has targeted cities like Pune and aimed at launching 1000 schools in Odhisa.

In conclusion, it is a necessity to make education available to all and if such huge corporate setups join hands with the government, then it is possible to get there faster. It is commendable to see how far we have reached but we still have miles to travel. Free education to all is the dream.