By Madi Sharma, EuAsiaNews,
London: In Europe there is a “Right” for all to have access to free education, thus leaving no excuse as to why children should not attend school.
More and more this “Right” is accepted by governments across the world and extended to their young citizens with the importance of an educated society being acknowledged as a key tool to economic development, growth and poverty alleviation.
Therefore one would ask why all children, especially in developing countries, do not attend school when a free education is provided by the State.
Infosys is one of India’s leading IT companies, with a turnover of around $4 billion and staff of almost 100,000 people globally. As part of its corporate social responsibility Infosys provides $4 million to the Infosys Foundation.
The vision of the Foundation is to support and build a better future for the underprivileged, channeling social change to enable healthy, educated and productive community members.
It focuses on four specific areas: accessibility to high quality health care, provision of basic infrastructure, promotion of education and the revival of dying art forms.
And in the words of Sudha Murty, the Chair and founder of the Infosys
Foundation “not one Rupee is wasted”.
Surprisingly there are numerous reasons why children in India do not attend school particularly in the rural areas and Sudha Murty has identified these.
Along with her three-man team she has joined with local NGOs and they have found ways to use the Foundation funds efficiently to ensure as many children as possible attend school.
Working with the local state school from primary level upwards in the Indian state of Karnataka, the Foundation’s solutions focus on both in-school and out of school activities in six specific areas:
• Provision of Midday meals – ensures that thousands of poor children in rural areas receive a hot and healthy midday meal. The Akshaya Patra project now feeds over 900,000 children in school on a daily basis. www.akshayapatra.org
• A library for every school – over 15,000 new books have been distributed in rural schools
• Teacher training – including IT provision to promote computer awareness in rural areas. Best teacher awards develop recognition of the value of education and teaching in rural areas
• Scholarships for students (200-300 annually) to attend college and cash awards to those students excelling in their studies.
• Construction projects – repair of old school buildings, classroom extension and provision of toilet facilities, one of the major reasons as to why girls terminate their education by the age of 14.
• Finishing School – Many students are given the option of attending a finishing school programme where one of the key focuses is their further development of the English language.
The Infosys Foundation has a small office within one of the Infosys Buildings in Bangalore. There are no top heavy administration structures and every rupee really does filter down to those who need it most.
(Madi Sharma is UK Member, Employers Group, in the Brussels-based European Economic & Social Committee. This report was produced following a recent visit to the Infosys Foundation as part of an EU-India civil society mission.)