Every child deserves to learn in a school where safety is never a concern, but a promise. A secure learning environment is not only about protecting students from risks—it is about creating a space where they can learn, grow, and dream with confidence. While classrooms shape young minds, the right infrastructure and community support ensure those classrooms remain safe and welcoming.
In this exclusive interview, Bhashkarvikram Rajkhowa, General Manager, North India, Convergint Asia Pacific, shares how Convergint's STEP Up for Schools initiative is helping build safer schools across India. He discusses the vision behind the programme, how schools are selected, and why every intervention is tailored to the unique needs of each campus. From CCTV installations and electrical safety upgrades to clean water solutions and employee volunteering, he explains how Convergint is going beyond technology to create lasting community impact. The conversation also explores the importance of partnerships, sustainable infrastructure, employee engagement, and the company's long-term vision of creating safer learning environments while inspiring students towards future careers in technology and electronic security.
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Q. What inspired Convergint to launch the STEP Up for Schools initiative, and what is the long-term vision behind the programme?
A. The inspiration behind the STEP Up for Schools initiative, launched globally in 2018, stems directly from our core mission and our Values and Beliefs. As a global leader in security and life-safety solutions, we recognised that we are uniquely positioned to contribute expertise that helps protect people and critical spaces. With schools increasingly prioritising student safety, we observed a growing need for stronger safety infrastructure in underserved educational institutions where resources are often limited. We launched this initiative to help bridge that gap, providing essential safety and security installations, upgrades, and expert assessments to schools worldwide.
Our long-term vision for the programme goes beyond simply installing technology; it is about creating sustainable, lasting community impact. We aim to build environments where students can focus on their education, educators feel fully supported, and parents have greater confidence in campus safety. By expanding STEP Up for Schools collaboratively with our industry partners and leveraging our colleagues' volunteer efforts, we envision a future where critical safety infrastructure is accessible to all. Furthermore, we view this initiative as an avenue to introduce young people to careers in electronic security and safety, empowering students to build successful futures while helping to foster safer, stronger, and more resilient communities for generations to come.
Q. School safety is often viewed through a narrow lens of security and emergency preparedness. How does Convergint define a safe learning environment, and what key gaps are you seeking to address through this initiative?
A. For Convergint, a safe learning environment extends far beyond emergency preparedness or perimeter security. We define a safe learning environment holistically as a space that protects student well-being, supports teacher effectiveness, and gives parents total confidence. It means ensuring that the physical, electrical, and environmental infrastructure of a school campus is sound, so that students can focus entirely on their education without basic health or safety hazards compromising their learning journey.
This comprehensive definition guides how we address infrastructure gaps in India, where the sheer scale of the education system comprising 14.71 lakh schools and serving over 24.69 crore students presents unique challenges. While national metrics show immense progress in basic access, critical qualitative gaps remain on the ground. Through the STEP Up for Schools initiative, we look past standard security installations to address specific, localized challenges. Whether it is mitigating electrical fire hazards by upgrading aging wiring in Bengaluru, ensuring health safety by adding 750 liters of water storage capacity in Gurugram, or donating clean water purifiers alongside servicing existing video systems in Mumbai, we tailor our interventions to create a truly supportive ecosystem.
Ultimately, addressing these key gaps allows us to align our core business capabilities with broader social development goals. By working closely with school administrators and local stakeholders to identify these overlooked priorities, we ensure our support delivers both immediate relief and long-term, sustainable benefits. Creating safer learning environments is essential to who we are as an organization, ensuring that every child has the opportunity to learn in a space that is safe, inclusive, and built for their future success.
Q. How do you identify and select schools for support, and what factors guide the design of interventions for each campus?
A. The identification of partner schools is driven by close collaboration with local stakeholders, community organisations, and school administrators. This grassroots engagement ensures that our resources are directed exactly where they can create the greatest impact. During the selection process, we assess each school's specific challenges and priorities, focusing on underserved institutions that will benefit most from targeted improvements spaces where our interventions can deliver both immediate relief and long-term, sustainable value.
When it comes to designing interventions for each campus, we firmly avoid a one-size-fits-all model. While our recent projects spanned Bengaluru, Gurugram, Mumbai, and Chennai, the specific needs across these locations varied significantly. The design of our interventions is guided by the unique daily realities of the campus. Projects are tailored to address highly specific local requirements, ranging from improvements that support student well-being and accessibility to targeted technology upgrades that strengthen physical security and operational effectiveness. This localised approach ensures that every project is deeply meaningful, sustainable, and perfectly aligned with the actual needs of the school community we are serving.
Q. This year's projects ranged from CCTV installations and electrical upgrades to water storage solutions and stair safety enhancements. How do you assess the specific needs of each school and prioritise the interventions that will create the greatest impact?
A. To accurately assess the specific needs of each school, we rely on a collaborative process that combines on-the-ground insights with our technical expertise. We begin by engaging directly with school administrators, educators, and local stakeholders. Because they navigate the daily realities of their campuses, their practical input is essential in shaping our initial approach.
Once a school is identified, our specialized teams conduct comprehensive on-site assessments. Since we view school safety holistically, these audits look beyond standard security requirements. Our teams evaluate the overall campus infrastructure, identifying structural vulnerabilities, electrical safety risks, and essential health needs, such as water storage capacity and sanitation access.
When it comes to prioritizing interventions, our focus is on addressing immediate risks while building long-term value. We first tackle critical infrastructure gaps that directly impact the daily well-being of students and staff such as upgrading aging, hazardous electrical wiring or ensuring reliable access to drinking water. Once these fundamental health and safety needs are secure, we layer in targeted technological solutions, like video surveillance systems, to strengthen the overall physical security of the campus. By combining the lived experiences of the school community with our technical capabilities, we ensure that our interventions are practical, targeted, and capable of creating a meaningfully safer environment for everyone on campus.
Q. Partnerships have played an important role in implementing the programme. How have your partner organisations contributed to the initiative's success, and what have been the key benefits of these collaborations?
A. Partnerships are at the very core of the STEP Up for Schools initiative. We recognize that to create systemic, lasting change, no single organization can operate in a silo. Our partner organizations ranging from technology vendors to local non-profits and community stakeholders have been instrumental in scaling our impact and ensuring our interventions are truly effective.
We collaborate with partners who share our commitment to social responsibility. Globally, our initiatives are supported by more than 45 partners who generously donate essential security equipment, hardware, and professional services. This industry support is a massive operational driver. It allows us to stretch our resources further and outfit underserved schools with high-quality, commercial-grade technology they otherwise could not access.
The key benefit of these collaborations is our ability to deliver comprehensive, holistic solutions. In India, working closely with local NGOs, educational authorities, and community leaders is vital to our success. These grassroots partners provide the localized insights we need to identify schools with the most urgent infrastructure gaps. By helping us understand the unique daily challenges of each community, they ensure our interventions are practical, highly targeted, and directly aligned with what the school actually needs.
Q. Employee volunteer participation in India grew from approximately 1,800 volunteer hours last year to more than 3,400 hours this year. What has driven this growth, and how does employee engagement strengthen the impact of the programme?
A. The significant growth in our volunteer hours from 1,800 to over 3,400 in just one year is primarily driven by our colleagues' deep, personal connection to the work we do. When employees see the tangible, immediate impact of their efforts whether it is upgrading an aging electrical panel, expanding a school's drinking water capacity, or installing a critical video surveillance system it builds a strong sense of shared purpose.
Furthermore, this high level of employee engagement is what truly strengthens the impact of the STEP Up for Schools programme. While donating and installing new security infrastructure is vital, the true value is delivered through the people who dedicate their time to doing it. When over 400 colleagues in India spend a full workday on-site, they are not just acting as technical experts, they are acting as invested community members.
Beyond the core technical installations, our teams take the time to understand the campus, engaging in hands-on activities like painting walls and conducting clean-ups to ensure the learning environment is welcoming. This human connection transforms a simple infrastructure upgrade into a lasting community partnership. It demonstrates to the students and educators that our commitment to creating safer learning environments goes far beyond corporate sponsorship, it is a personal, collective responsibility.
Q. Beyond infrastructure improvements, what long-term changes do you hope to see in the lives of students, teachers, and school communities as a result of these interventions?
A. While infrastructure improvements and security upgrades are the tangible outputs of the STEP Up for Schools initiative, our ultimate goal is to fundamentally transform the educational ecosystem for everyone involved. By eliminating the daily distractions caused by safety vulnerabilities and inadequate facilities, we aim to ensure students feel secure and physically supported, allowing them to focus entirely on their learning to achieve better educational outcomes and personal well-being. For teachers, we aim to alleviate operational and safety anxieties. A structurally and technologically secure campus allows educators to dedicate their full energy to teaching and student development rather than managing environmental hazards. For parents and the broader community, these physical interventions build lasting confidence and trust in their local public institutions.
Our long-term vision extends beyond the classroom and into future career readiness. As a global systems integrator, Convergint views this initiative as an avenue to introduce young people to careers in electronic security, life safety, and technology, fields that remain relatively unknown to many students despite their growing importance. By bridging the gap between grassroots education and early career exposure, we hope to empower students to build successful futures.
Q. How does Convergint measure the success and sustainability of the programme, and what steps are taken to ensure that the systems and facilities continue to deliver value long after the project is completed?
A. Measuring the success of the STEP Up for Schools initiative goes far beyond tracking the number of installations or hours volunteered. We evaluate our impact based on the sustained functionality of the infrastructure and the practical, day-to-day benefits it brings to the campus. For us, true success is reflected in a safer physical environment, a reduction in daily hazards, and consistent positive feedback from school administrators regarding campus operations and overall student well-being.
To ensure these interventions are sustainable, we intentionally avoid a short-term, transactional approach. When a project is completed, our technical teams conduct a comprehensive handover, directly training school staff and administrators so they are fully equipped to operate the new systems and manage basic routine maintenance. Additionally, we design our upgrades using durable, commercial-grade equipment provided by our industry partners. Whether we are installing video surveillance, expanding water storage, or upgrading electrical panels, utilizing high-quality materials ensures these solutions can withstand the heavy daily usage of a busy school environment.
Ultimately, our relationship with these schools does not end when Social Responsibility Day concludes. Because our local teams live and work in these same communities, we maintain open lines of communication with the institutions, allowing us to offer continued technical guidance and ongoing support as needed. By combining proper training with an ongoing community partnership, we ensure that our interventions continue to protect students and educators, delivering lasting value well into the future.
Q. Convergint describes social responsibility as a year-round commitment. Looking ahead, what is your roadmap for the STEP Up for Schools initiative in India, and how do you envision its impact evolving in the coming years?
A. While Social Responsibility Day serves as a powerful catalyst for our efforts, our commitment to the communities where we live and work extends year-round. Looking ahead, our roadmap for the STEP Up for Schools initiative in India focuses on deepening our engagement with current partner schools while steadily expanding our reach to more underserved institutions across the country. We plan to achieve this by strengthening our existing collaborations with local NGOs, educational authorities, and industry partners, which will allow us to continually identify and support new campuses that urgently require infrastructure and safety upgrades.
As the programme evolves in the coming years, we envision its impact growing beyond foundational physical safety. While securing the learning environment will always remain our core mission, we are actively exploring opportunities to contribute more directly to student skills development and future career readiness. By engaging older students to the technology, we install and sharing our professional expertise, we hope to spark an interest in the electronic security and life-safety sectors. This approach allows us to help bridge the critical gap between basic education and future employment, creating potential career pathways for students who might not otherwise have access to these growing industries.
Having recently celebrated 25 years of social responsibility at Convergint, our long-term vision remains focused on ensuring this programme serves as a sustainable, year-round model of community empowerment. By continuously adapting to the specific, localized needs of the educational institutions we partner with, we believe we can play a meaningful and lasting role in building safer, stronger, and more resilient communities for the next generation.
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