ngalore, January 7, 2021: As Karnataka welcomed school students back to the classrooms, corporates have offered helping hands to state governments towards facilitating safe schooling for students amid continuing fear of COVID pandemic.
With Government Schools opening now, one India’s largest real estate conglomerates Embassy Group mobilized their corporate and NGO partners under their Corporate Connect Program to work with the Government and Department of Education.
Embassy and their corporate partner in health, Cerner, have collaborated to design a targeted program that could tackle common health issues in a comprehensive manner - from preventive to detective. Joined by Swiss Re Foundation and Cognizant, the program that has been present in Government Schools in 2016, has strengthened during the Covid-19 pandemic to encompass over 45,000 students in Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Noida, Chennai and Hosur.
With the onset of the virus, they added COVID related relief measures to their existing programs including the distribution of health kits, preventive awareness and top-to-bottom school maintenance.
| Initiative | Impact |
| Preventive Health Kits | 22,500 health kits to 19,200 students across India |
| Preventive Covid-19 Awareness | 19,200 students |
| Nutritional Supplements | 1,47,440 supplements to 3,560 students |
| Deep Cleaning, Sanitization & Daily Maintenance | 17 Government Schools |
| Face Shields for Teachers | 5,949 Face Shields distributed across 126 Government Schools |
Together, the corporate health consortium has distributed preventive health kits to students across India. Each kit safeguards against the virus, as well as bolsters each student’s general hygiene. The kit contains handwash, bath soaps, washing soap, reusable cloth masks, shampoo, a toothbrush, toothpaste, a tongue cleaner, a nail cutter and a comb.
Congratulating the corporates and making an appeal for others organisations to join this partnership, S.R. Umashankar, IAS, Principal Secretary to Government, Primary & Secondary Education, Government of Karnataka, said "It is extremely heartening to see corporates such as Embassy Group providing a model for partnering with the Government in providing equitable and safe education to our underprivileged children. We are pleased to renew this meaningful partnership to strengthen our existing education system, and hope such initiatives encourage other corporates to join us."
On these initiatives, K S Vinoda, Headmistress of Government Higher Primary School, Vasanthnagar, said that the support provided by the corporates has led to the betterment of students’ futures, particularly in this challenging situation. "Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, schools could not run in their usual manner. With Vidyagama classes starting, Embassy provided us with the necessary sanitizers and face shields, keeping the safety of students and teachers in mind. They also provided their expert facilities team for deep cleaning and sanitization of the school before our students return for their Vidyagama classes."
In addition, with the aim of creating campuses conducive to learning, the Group already maintains 17 Government Schools on a daily basis. Throughout the pandemic, Embassy continued to provide maintenance to their Government Schools on a weekly basis. To further equip schools with safe, well maintained and hygienic infrastructure for students to return to, the Group conducted extensive repairs and renovations for 10 Government Schools in Bangalore over the last few months.
Supplementing the Government’s initiatives to safeguard students and teachers from the virus, Embassy has furnished their adopted GovernmentSchools with sanitizer foot stands and enough sanitizer for daily usage. Additionally, the Embassy aimed to preserve the health and safety of teachers, who are also at risk of contracting the disease, by donating face shields across 126 Government Schools in Bangalore.
Embassy Group’s community outreach program empowers over 25,000 children across 189 schools in India.
