BENGALORE: Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS) said that it has launched Smart Class Program, a CSR initiative to drive overall educational development of underprivileged children in 16 Government schools – 10 in Indore and 6 in Chennai.
HGS has associated with YUVA Unstoppable, one of India’s leading NGOs, for the program, which is expected to benefit 1,200 children by leveraging a technology integrated learning model.
Partha DeSarkar, Global CEO – HGS said, “HGS believes in creating meaningful impact on society through our corporate social responsibility program. With the increasing presence of technology in our lives, a technology integrated model in government schools can make learning fun while also developing a feeling of aspirational inclusion for the underserved community.”
Children aged below 14 comprise 28 percent of India’s population and are always curious to learn. However, owing to lack of proper physical and technological infrastructure in government schools coupled with shortage of teachers, most of the students drop out immediately after completing their primary education. HGS’ Smart Class Program is expected to play a crucial role in transforming and improving the overall student learning outcomes and teacher effectiveness in the 16 schools adopted by the Company. The program aims to ensure that children in the secondary standards take part, continue and complete their secondary school education.
As part of the technology-led educational program, the traditional role-based model of education will be replaced with interactive, fun, innovative and easily comprehensible teaching methods. The program uses K-Yan technology that incorporates the features of computer-based learning into a high-resolution, high-luminosity portable projector along with various built-in features, including internet connectivity and showing multimedia content to the students. The program will not be a replacement to the existing teachers but will act as an additional aid to them, as well as train them to teach in a more effective manner.
Amitabh Shah, Founder of Yuva Unstoppable (NGO) said, “Digitization is a way of life today. Around 40% of our rural areas are now connected digitally, yet 60% is still unexplored. We started this program as this is tied with India’s developmental agenda of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Digital India to ensure wider reach and impact among the less-privileged children. In this Digital era, it is pivotal for every child to be well versed with latest technology.”
India CSR Network: On what basis were these 16 schools chosen?
Partha DeSarkar, Global CEO – HGS: At HGS, we believe that education is the most powerful tool for social and economic transformation in any community. HGS, in association with Yuva Unstoppable, one of India’s leading NGOs, launched its Smart Class Program in 16 Government schools in Indore and Chennai with an aim to drive overall educational development of underprivileged children in the secondary standards (from classes 6 to 8).
The 16 schools – 10 in Indore and 6 in Chennai were chosen on the basis of the following criteria:
- Provision of basic classroom infrastructure with facilities such as smart learning technology, IT faculty and internet connectivity
- Each school to facilitate Smart Class sessions for at least 100-120 children from standards 6 to 8 in total along with their teachers
- Approved by the local municipal authority to set up
- The classrooms must have proper roof cover and good flooring area
- With this CSR initiative, we expect to play a significant role in transforming the traditional role-based model of education into more interactive, fun, innovative and easy to comprehend model. This will help children to continue and complete their basic education, better their chances of employment and build a better future for themselves.
India CSR Network: Why were the cities of Indore and Chennai selected for this? Does HGS also operate from these two regions?
Partha DeSarkar, Global CEO – HGS: The primary objective of HGS’ CSR program is to reach out to economically and socially disadvantaged sections of the community and to help them attain sustainable development. We typically select our CSR projects that are in the 14 cities in India where we operate. HGS operates both in Indore and Chennai. As a socially responsible organization, we intend to fulfill our commitment of giving back to society by extending our employees’ time and skills to deepen our reach in the communities that we operate in. Through volunteering programs across all our offices, HGS provides employees an opportunity to make impact beyond their desks.
(India CSR Network / Based on Statement)
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