CSR and Inclusive Growth:Making a Difference in Education

and Employability

Manisha Date

Objectives

• To identify the gaps in Educational

Attainment and Employability

• To study various CSR initiatives that work

towards bridging these gaps

• To draw common lessons from the case

studies

Poverty

Quality of Education

Health, Nutrition, Hygiene

Unemployment

Challenges of

Inclusive Growth

Scope of the Study

Inclusive growth• Empowerment• Redistribution

Education and Employability• Quantity• Quality

Role of CSR• Present• Future

Photos from ASER 2010

Educational Attainment

•2000 – 83%•2008 - 95%

Net Enrolment Ratio

•1999 – 62%•2008 – 72%

Survival Rate

•2001- 76%•2007 – 82%

Youth Literacy Rate

Areas of Concern• 47% of std V children cannot read std

II text • 64% of Std V children can’t perform

division.• 30 % of the Std V children cannot

subtract

Primary Education

• 17% of std VIII children can’t read Std II text.

• 34% of Std VIII children can’t do division.

Secondary Education

• 75% of the fresh engineering graduates recruited by domestic IT companies are unemployable.

Higher Education

The Global Competitiveness Report 2011, World Economic Forum

• India’s Overall Rank – 51/139

• Best Rank : Market Size - 4

• Worst Rank: Health and primary education – 104

• Other ranks:

– Higher education and training - 85

– Labor market efficiency – 92

WEF: Talent Mobility Report

Challenges in India:1. Co-existence of High Unemployment and

Talent shortage

2. Increasing the quality of the Indian labour force

3. Extremely polarized perceptions of professions

4. Low level of employability

5. Unequal participation in workforce and wealth

Demographic Dividend ???

CSR in India: Times Foundation Survey

• 90% of the companies have CSR initiatives

• 56 % of the companies cover people living nearby

• The major thrust areas are

– Education (82 per cent),

– Health (77 per cent),

– Environment (66 per cent),

– Livelihood Promotion (57 per cent)

Notable Initiatives

IT sector

• TCS: Partnership with Engineering colleges

• Indo-US collaboration for engineering education:“Train the Trainer” model to improve the quality of senior faculty members

• Infosys: SPARK , a programme that aims at providing hands-on experience in IT to high school and engineering students

Banking Sector

• ICICI Foundation: ‘ICICI Elementary Education’

– Improving Teacher Performance

– Curriculum and textbook development

– Capacity building of government institutions 

– Building partnerships and resource centers

• Standard Chartered Bank: GOAL

– Empower young women for personal and economic development

– Through training in Sports and Life skills

Other Examples

• Pratham

• Future Innoversity

• National Innovation Foundation

• Honey Bee Network, Gian, Srishti

• Rural Relations

Main Findings

• Millennium Development Goals:

Education Targets achieved

• SSA and RTE: Targets achieved

• All international comparisons: India in

the Lowest Achievement Group

Main Findings• Mismatch between demand and supply of

human resources• Shortage of skilled workers across

industries.• Quality of Education ‘from KG to PG’ is a

major concern.• Various CSR initiatives towards Education,

Skill development and Employability

Conclusions

• Government initiatives and the CSR activities of

the private sector are not enough to bridge the

gaps in Educational Attainment and

Employability.

• More needs to be done: more coordinated and

concerted effort is required.

• Inclusive Growth needs a more inclusive effort,

i.e. participation of all sectors and every individual

Suggestions

1. Corporate- Colleges Partnership

• Funds for specific projects that enhance learning

• Training students in specific skills to enhance employability

• Designing and revising the syllabus in order to make it more practical and contemporary

• Placement assistance• Mentoring

2. College-Schools Partnership

• All college students should be required to put in certain number of hours towards betterment of primary education.

• Colleges can adopt schools and work with them. Students should be encouraged to take up live projects and summer placement in these schools.

3. Public-Private-People Partnership

• Active role to be played by the beneficiaries in decision making and operational aspects of a CSR project

• Involvement of community• Awareness about the issue• Active participation by all citizens• Real Empowerment with Dignity

4. Network of Industry Experts,

Academicians and Government

5. Informal Sector, MSMEs to be

brought in mainstream

6. Innovative Indigenous Solutions

7. Consolidation of Efforts: Making

the process more inclusive

Vision

Compassion

Professionalism

Thank You!