Investing in Education for Underprivileged Children

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CSR Vertical 3

Investing in Education of Underprivileged Children

We strongly believe that there can be no holistic progress without the education of children. Given the lack of educational facilities among underprivileged children, we continue to make significant investments in this area.

Objective

To strengthen continuity and sustenance across the child’s lifecycle, with complete focus on the child from birth until completion of higher education.

Description

Multiple programmes for children constitute one of the largest CSR verticals with the highest spend at Hindustan Zinc:

Khushi Nand Ghar programme for children below 6 years of age
Shiksha Sambal initiative supporting young talent from grades 6 to 12
The Unchi Udaan programme selects high-performing students from Shiksha Sambal schools and provides them with four years of in-house coaching to qualify for engineering courses via IIT-JEE
Technology-aided learning is provided to students between grades 6 and 10, while children enrolled in higher education classes are supported through digital education and Company-run schools

Impact

Children covered across Khushi Nand Ghar, Digital Shaala, Shiksha Sambal, Unchi Udaan, Scholarship and Company-run schools’ programme.

227,000+

Visually impaired, deaf and mute students studying in 4 specially-abled schools

600+

Pregnant women and lactating mothers benefitted and capacity building of Anganwadi field team through the Khushi Nand Ghar programme

41,000+

Heroes of the Vertical

Identified 1,400+ cases of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) of which 75% of the children were brought out from this group
Hindustan Zinc’s efforts to promote nutrition were recognised during Poshan Maah (a campaign to address the issue of malnutrition) and appreciated by Ajmer District Management
Health and nutrition assessment study was conducted in 5 Districts of Rajasthan
First ever 20-day pre-vocational courses on agriculture and electrical trades were imparted to grade 11 students
Introduction of the Fellowship Model that onboarded 10 fellows from grades 6 to 8 to strengthen their language competencies and mathematical skills in collaboration with Government subject teachers
This year, 5 students of Unchi Udaan batch 1 received job placement with the highest offer of ₹ 9 lakhs and the average offer of ₹ 7 lakhs to ₹ 9 lakhs per annum; ongoing placement process shall be completed following the engineering examinations

Education Programmes

Major Activities & Achievements During FY 2022-23

Khushi Nand Ghar

This CSR project of Hindustan Zinc seeks to strengthen the efficacy of the State Government’s integrated child development services (ICDS) programme in 3,145 Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) to improve health and wellbeing of children aged below 6 years.

Intensive capacity-building sessions conducted for the team and frontline workers to make delivery of services more impactful
Facilitated Anganwadi workers in planning and implementation of pre-school activities according to the ICDS monthly theme plan. Additionally, counselling was provided to mothers and parents through home meetings and community gatherings in the field
Established a platform through community engagement activities like meetings and special events to disseminate essential messages relating to health and nutrition, and the importance of preschool education (PSE) in the community
Conducted 406 camps on community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) that covered 4,900+ children

All the Anganwadi Management Committees (AMCs) constituted as an additional sustainable mechanism to take up ownership of development of Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) by community members
Pre-school learning imparted to over 1 lakh children through videos
20,000+ kitchen gardens developed at AWCs and households
842 AWCs representing 12,000+ pregnant and lactating mothers participated in awareness sessions on the benefits of breastfeeding, besides nutrition, pre-natal and post-natal care of mother and child
Undertaken 1.36+ lakh household visits and 1,756 community meetings

Partnerships with Government of India, Ministry of Women and Child Development – Government of Rajasthan, Department of Women and Child Development, CARE India Solutions for Sustainable Development, Gramin Avam Samajik Vikas Sanstha, Jatan Sansthan and Seva Mandir

Shiksha Sambal

Works with the objective of strengthening the learning environment in Government schools, to enhance rural students’ ability to learn by expanding their conceptual knowledge with special focus on Science, English and Mathematics.

37,000+ regular and after school classes conducted for Science, Mathematics and English across grades 9 and 10
51 schools intensively covered during Diwali learning camps over 9 days
700+ students of grades 6 to 8 offered activities to enhance their reading habit and scientific acumen, including reading melas and library class

126 modules for imparting education transacted through the Fellowship Model, that focussed on a pedagogic approach
13 rigorous career counselling sessions covering 500+ students, were organised to guide them on future prospects for their growth and development
50 learning camps conducted through summer and winter to benefit 3,400+ students

Partnership with Vidya Bhawan Society

Unchi Udaan

Initiative to nurture and groom young, promising talent from economically backward families to gain admission into IITs and other reputed engineering institutions.

Batch 5 appeared for JEE Mains’ first attempt; 4 students secured scores higher than 90 percentiles
3 wellness sessions organised with batches 5 and 7, to alleviate students’ anxiety during exams

22 students secured admission into reputed Government colleges while two students were selected in IIT Guwahati (mechanical engineering) and NIT Kurukshetra (production and industrial engineering)
The entire batch 4 with 30 students gained admission into Government engineering colleges

Partnership with Resonance and Vidya Bhawan Society

Jeevan Tarang

This programme seeks to empower persons with disabilities (PwD) to become self-reliant and important contributing members of their families via capacity building, and finding employment to earn a livelihood.

600+ students and parents learned Indian sign language through a dedicated curriculum and 90+ visually impaired children received technology training to use DAISY players, smartphones, computers, and MS-Office, software for accessing learning content online
Speech therapy provided to deaf students to help them communicate and enhance their self-esteem and independence

100% students of class 12 across the 4 specially abled institutions passed the exam
Awareness sessions for students conducted on a variety of topics including road safety, yoga and self-defence, digital literacy, menstrual health and hygiene, good touch and bad touch

Partnerships with Badhit Bal Vikas Samiti, Ajmer; Badhir Bal Kalyan Vikas Samiti, Bhilwara and Noida Deaf Society

Other Education Initiatives

Hindustan Zinc has 5 schools with an enrolment of 1,600+ students from nearby communities, across classes 1 to 12, that support the students’ academic and overall development
More than 130 students supported through scholarship programmes
- Yashad Scholars scholarship for students pursuing engineering
- Vedanta P.G. girls’ college programme that offers scholarships to rural girls to pursue graduation and post-graduation
- Digital Shaala enables digital access and learning for 18,000+ students of 70 Government schools of Gwalior and Madhya Pradesh

Partnerships with Vedanta Foundation, Sumedha, Muskaan Dreams Creative Foundation