CSR initiatives in India are vitalising the education sphere in India, starting from pre-primary to higher education. India has the largest t population in the world in the age Indian edtech startups have received a total investment of US$ 3.94 billion across 155 deals in FY22. India also had its bracket of 5-24 years with 580 million people in the bracket. This presents a huge opportunity in the education sector for private entities and for corporate groups.
India has over 250 million school going students, more than any other country and the applications for the ‘Study In India’ programme increased by 146 per cent in 2021 – an indicator of the reach and potential of this sector.
Education sector in India presents great business and investment opportunities. In the next three years, the education market in India is expected to amount to US$ 225 billion. The FDI equity inflows from April 2000 till March 2022 stood at 7.72 billion.
A booming sector
Indian edtech startups have received a total investment of US$ 3.94 billion across 155 deals in FY22. India also had its first unicorn when, in June 2022, edtech platform PhysicsWallah raised US$ 100 million in a Series-A funding round from WestBridge Capital and GSV Ventures, valuing the company at US$ 1.1 billion.
India holds a special position in the global education industry where the country has one of the largest networks of higher education institutions in the world. The education sector in India provides huge growth opportunities with a whopping demographic advantage – a 27 per cent population in the age group of 0 – 14 years.
The government expenditure in the education sector in India can be seen as follows: From the year 1952 to 2014, the total government education investment grew from 7.92 to 15.7 showing the importance of education in the entire scheme of things for the government. Also, from the year 1952 to 2014, the total GDP percentage increased from 0.64 to 4.13 indicating the total amount of income being invested in the development of education in the country.
CSR projects invest huge sums
Reliance Industries Limited tops the list, with the education CSR spend of ₹ 526 crores, when it comes to funding CSR in education. Reliance Foundation Education and Sports for All supports the education of underprivileged children by partnering with social organisations and civil society and working at the
grassroots level.
Through these initiatives, focus is given on encouraging children’s engagement in sports, literacy and life skills. The technology-embedded ‘Digital Learning Van’ has been providing quality education to more than 4,000 children from ten government schools in Mumbai and Thane districts and has been a key component of this initiative. In an impact that many will envy, these CSR initiatives have impacted more than two lakh children.
Scholarships have been a useful medium for identifying and promoting talented and driven children who struggle to move ahead owing to personal and financial situations. The Dhirubhai Ambani Scholarship aims to promote academic and leadership excellence and is awarded to meritorious students who emulate the vision and values of the founder of Reliance Industries Ltd. Dhirubhai Ambani.
This scholarship has so far provided financial support to more than 12,000 deserving students to pursue graduation. Of these, almost half of the students are girls and one-fifth scholars are specially-abled students.
Education for social change
Indian Multi-national Corporation that provides information technology, consulting and business process services, Wipro Limited spends a significant portion of its CSR budget towards education and skill-building initiatives. The IT giant has an education initiative that works for children with disabilities and integrates teaching with assistive technology, health and nutrition.
Another initiative, Systemic Reforms in School Education programme, was started in 2001 to support organisations that are engaged in the primary education segment and doing it well. The programme also encourages other grassroots and social organisations to adopt and implement education projects.
Azim Premji University has several need-based scholarships and offers courses that strengthen India’s education sector and overall development. The university’s commitment to use education as a vehicle for social change is exemplary.
India’s biggest sustainability education CSR initiative – Wipro Earthian – is also the company’s flagship CSR programme where Education meets Sustainability. The programme aims to involve young people and educate and motivate them to be sensitive to the environment and protect it with innovative solutions.
Santoor Women’s Scholarship has been supporting girl child education in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka.
Providing education infrastructure
India’s biggest cement company Ultratech Cement Limited which is part of the Aditya Birla Group has been providing CSR funding in the education sector.
The School Education Programme, in keeping up with the fourth Sustainable Development Goal ‘quality education’, carries out enrolment awareness programmes and events, offers education material such as books, study material, uniform, etc., offers scholarships (merit and need based assistance), facilitates specialised coaching and exposure visits.visits.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) has also undertaken a wide range of initiatives to promote education in the country, specifically in pockets where infrastructure is poor or missing.
Under the education-oriented projects, efforts are made to strengthen educational infrastructure to ensure increased attendance and enrolment of students. This is done through the construction of classrooms, construction of school toilets, creating drinking water facilities for students, etc.
Digital education is the need of the hour and the education-oriented CSR projects funded by ONGC focus on enhancing access to quality education by setting up of ‘smart classrooms.’
Education for all
The CSR arm of telecommunication services giant Bharti Airtel, Bharti Foundation, has also been very active in the education sector and supports a wide range of programmes in primary, secondary and higher education in India.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, when all the schools were shut, imparting quality education to children was a huge challenge. At the time, Bharti Foundation’s school education programmes provided support to teachers to instruct ways and means to effectively engage with children ‘virtually’ and from home.
It’s an extremely difficult task to hold a child’s attention and that too through a digital device or gadget is even more challenging. The Satya Bharti Schools’ teachers also worked closely with parents to make sure there is optimum learning and effective learning through digital mediums, as was the need during the pandemic. They used all digital and virtual modes that were available to establish a strong communication
channel.
The Satya Bharti School Programme was launched in 2006 to provide ‘free quality education to underprivileged children in rural India across six states and with a focus on the girl child’.
Under the Satya Bharti Quality Support Program, the Foundation has been working with the government to improve overall schooling experience and improve the quality for government school students. The foundation is also active in the area of higher education. The CSR initiatives of Bharti Foundation include partnerships with higher education entities.
Grasim Industries Limited’s CSR initiatives lay special focus on the education of the girl child. It supports girl children in government schools, offers educational scholarships, facilitated special coaching for entrance exams such as the JEE and NEET, etc. Through a Public-Private Partnership mode, the company helped 169 students from a government school to learn English. Grasim Industries, through its various initiatives, is educating more than 49,000 students through scholarships, schools and adult education programmes.