India has made great strides in improving access to quality education, increasing elementary school enrolment, and reducing the number of out-of-school children. These achievements have been bolstered by key laws, policies, and programmes such as the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act (2009), National Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Policy (2013). However, challenges do remain. There is a drastic decrease in out-of-school children in 2014 (6.1 million) compared to 13.46 million in 2006. Out of 100 students, 29 per cent of girls and boys drop out of school before completing the full cycle of elementary education, and often, they are the most marginalised children. Around 50 per cent of adolescents do not complete secondary education, while approximately 20 million children are not attending preschool. Half of the Primary school-going children – which constitute nearly 50 million children – have not achieved grade-appropriate learning levels. CSR Mandate spoke with Parul Mittal, Director, Greenlam Industries, to understand the various initiatives the company is undertaking to ensure that children who are part of their focused interventions gain access to quality education.
What is Greenlam’s approach to improving the present education scenario in the country?
As a part of our CSR initiative, we have forged a partnership with Pratham Education Foundation to undertake the “Improving Learning Outcomes” programme to bridge the learning gaps in the communities by focusing on creating a sustainable learning space through intensive community-driven activities and building and improving the foundational skills of children to help them gain access to quality education.
This programme caters to children of different age groups, such as Pre-Primary and Grade I-VIII government schools. It has a two-fold approach – to address the issue of the learning gap – working closely with the children in the school setting, and generating awareness in the community regarding the importance of education as a means to a better quality of life.
The need assessment in Behror (Rajasthan) and Nalagarh (Himachal Pradesh) for learning outcomes indicated a strong focus on supporting early childhood education by strengthening their foundational skills. The assessment indeed indicated the need to support children from Grade I to VIII. We found out that in terms of reading and number recognition, most of the children in Pre-Primary and Grade I and II were at the Beginners level. In socio-emotional skills and language development, the percentage of children giving correct answers was below 50 per cent in all activities. And in Grade VI to VIII, we found out that only 50 per cent of children could answer two of the five questions correctly in Vocabulary.
The interventions can be summarised as:
- Building Math and Language skills in the students through customised content and teaching learning material in English and local languages.
- Capability building and awareness generation of the parents to enrol their children into schools and contribute to their learning levels.
- Augmenting existing education infrastructure by creating playscapes (playgrounds in schools).
- Using art-based learning in schools by painting walls to encourage students to attend schools.
- Supporting school principals and teachers.
Why is Greenlam approaching Education through this programme?
The need assessment in Behror (Rajasthan) and Nalagarh (Himachal Pradesh) for learning outcomes indicated a strong focus on supporting early childhood education by strengthening their foundational skills. The assessment indeed indicated the need to support children from Grade I to VIII. We found out that in terms of reading and number recognition, most of the children in Pre-Primary and Grade I and II were at the Beginners level. In socio-emotional skills and language development, the percentage of children giving correct answers was below 50 per cent in all activities. And in Grade VI to VIII, we found out that only 50 per cent of children could answer two of the five questions correctly in Vocabulary.
For an impactful and successful programme, an NGO well-versed or fully dedicated to education is required as an implementing partner. Do share in detail about the partner.
We partner with Pratham Education Foundation, an innovative learning organisation created to improve the quality of education in India. Established in 1995 to provide education to children in the slums of Mumbai, it has grown in scope and scale, with programmes reaching children and youth across the country.
As one of the largest non-governmental organisations in the country, Pratham focuses on high-quality, low-cost, and replicable interventions to address gaps in the education system. Working directly with children and youth as well as through large-scale collaborations with government systems, its programmes reach millions every year. Its Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) approach has demonstrated a proven impact on children’s learning outcomes and is now being adapted to contexts outside India.
Pratham addresses gaps in education systems with innovative, low-cost, replicable interventions that span the age spectrum. Working directly and through government systems, these programmes collectively reach millions of children and thousands of school dropouts each year. In direct work, a Pratham instructor works with children either in the school or in the community, whereas the partnership model involves its teams working closely with government teams at the State, district or city level to design and implement programmes. Its approach to improving learning outcomes continues to serve as a model, both within India and beyond.
We conduct baseline assessment to know where the child is. At the end of the programme, we conduct an endline assessment to measure the impact. Pratham conduct sample-based assessments to gain an overall perspective on learning gains. For a comparative study, the assessment is also conducted in Anganwadi Centres where it does not have any interventions. It is an observation and interaction-based method designed by Pratham to understand the progress of children to help generate insights that can enable the teachers and Pratham teams to improve the functioning to achieve the developmental goals.
Where is this programme implemented? How many schools are part of it, and why were they chosen?
We have 15 villages in Behror Bock of Alwar District in Rajasthan and 10 villages in Nalagarh Block of Solan District in Himachal Pradesh.
We have almost 25 schools as part of this programme. In Behror, we are working in 15 schools, out of which, we have Grades VI to VIII Science programme in 10 schools. We are also working in 10 schools in Nalagarh. We chose these schools as they are around the vicinity of our plants.
Do elaborate on the customised content taught to the different grades. Is the content an addition to the regular curriculum the government schools are following?
Yes, they are. In fact, we create in-house content. We follow a level-wise curriculum rather than grade-wise, i.e. beginner, alphabet, paragraph, story level, etc. We would like to stress here that we aim to provide excellence in two focused subjects – Hindi and Mathematics – as they are the main pillars in building employability skills and manage day to day efficient communication for students.
Do you provide training to the teachers before they teach the students this customised content?
Yes, of course. We organise in-house training on a monthly/quarterly basis and walk them through the teaching modules.
How are the students graded to gauge the impact and outcomes of the programme on them?
We conduct a baseline assessment to know where the child is. At the end of the programme, we conduct an endline assessment to measure the impact. Pratham conducts sample-based assessments to gain an overall perspective on learning gains. For a comparative study, the assessment is 
also conducted in Anganwadi Centres where it does not have any interventions. It is an observation and interaction-based method designed by Pratham to understand the progress of children to help generate insights that can enable the teachers and Pratham teams to improve the functioning to achieve the developmental goals.
The programme has managed to change the overall perception of the community with respect to children being an economic asset and supporting the parents to earn a living through involvement in their farms and small businesses back in the villages. Most parents were initially unwilling to participate in the process and become volunteers for community-based activities. However, post the initial few months, through multiple interactions with the community, the responses began to turn positive. Today, more than 80 per cent of children are enrolled in schools. Over the past two years, there has been a rise in enrolments and significant engagement from both parents and village leaders in this endeavour.
What are the different initiatives undertaken to help children improve their learning outcomes and encourage them to attend school?
We do have different initiatives to help our children.
Remote Outreach Learning for children in Pre-Primary and Grades I to III. We share daily fun, easy-to-do activities with mothers over SMS or WhatsApp where they could carry out with their children with easily available items at home. This helps parents engage their children and create a conducive learning environment within the home.
In-School Intervention for children between Grade I and II and VI to VIII. The team conduct development activities with children in Grade I and II to make them school-ready. We encourage children from Grades VI to VIII to create science models for the Science Mela.
Community-Based Interventions for children in Pre-Primary, Grade IV to VIII.
Mothers’ Groups have been created in 10 communities to orientate mothers on simple activities they could conduct with their children at home.
Children’s Clubs – We have formed these Clubs in 15 different communities where volunteers facilitate learning activities.
We also deliver a virtual course on First Aid messages through WhatsApp to mothers who are involved in the project.
Involving the community in this process is very important. How is Greenlam involving parents, Panchayat leaders and the community where these schools are situated?
The community has been incredibly supportive, with volunteers extending their help even during the pandemic. We received assistance from community volunteers, and community members participated in school readiness melas, community engagement events, and other initiatives to ensure children were enrolled in school and maintained good attendance. As a result, we have developed a stronger relationship with the community following the pandemic.
Are you satisfied with how this programme is running and impacting lives in its current state or do you see various areas of improvement you would like to adopt based on the impact and feedback from everyone involved?
We have catered to approximately 3000 children, and 750 mothers have been trained and involved as part of the community engagement model in the last three years. We initially started the programme in 2018 in nine villages in Behror. It was then scaled to 15 villages in Behror, and in 2019. We replicated it in 10 villages in Nalagarh. It has increased children’s enrolment in schools and also encouraged a significant number of them to pursue higher studies.
The programme has managed to change the overall perception of the community with respect to children being an economic asset and supporting the parents to earn a living through involvement in their farms and small businesses back in the villages. Most parents were initially unwilling to participate in the process and become volunteers for community-based activities. However, post the initial few months, through multiple interactions with the community, the responses began to turn positive. Today, more than 80 per cent of children are enrolled in schools. Over the past two years, there has been a rise in enrolments and significant engagement from both parents and village leaders in this endeavour.
Are there plans to expand this programme to other States?
Yes, we will continue to be in the space of Education, however, the mode and scope of intervention keep changing based on the need on the ground.
Any closing thoughts before we conclude this interview?
As an organisation, we are content and pleased with the efforts we have made in the education sector. The community has shown appreciation for our initiatives, and we are excited about continuing to do more for them.
