Laying the Foundations of a Good Education in India

To help students get the most from their educations, schools need strong infrastructures. However, many municipal schools in India suffer from a lack of amenities, ranging from dangerously unsanitary facilities that increase the risk of disease spread to a lack of technology in classrooms, meaning children cannot benefit from the learning tools of the digital age.

SGS India supports Yuva Unstoppable, a charity with the goal of transforming poor infrastructure and unhygienic sanitation facilities in underprivileged schools through its Evolution Municipal School Empowerment Program. Since 2017, SGS has donated more than INR 15 million to support this work. The program has helped 16 schools in Kerala and Gujarat, with a combined total of 3,565 pupils, to upgrade facilities. The work was centered around three areas:

1. Drinking and cleaning facilities: the schools lacked separate provisions for cleaning and drinking water, leading to waste and the risk of water contamination. In many cases, faulty taps made it difficult for students to access drinking water, and the facilities were unhygienic. Yuva replaced broken taps and built separate cleaning and drinking water stations. Depending on the local water quality, water purifiers and reverse osmosis filters were installed to purify drinking water
2. Sanitation: the schools suffered from very unhygienic toilet facilities, leading to a high dropout rate among female students. Pupils frequently missed school due to illnesses attributed to poor sanitation. Yuva installed proper plumbing and provided clean facilities
3. Smart Classrooms: the schools had only basic teaching equipment. Yuva installed Smart Classrooms to provide teachers with learning technology such as computers, specialized software, audience response technology, assistive listening devices, networking, and audiovisual equipment

In 2020 we are supporting Yuva in their rollout of the program to many more schools in Haryana and New Delhi.