BANGALORE, January 15 - Underprivileged children in India, facing poverty, illiteracy and a premature start to their working lives, are being given the chance of a new and better future, thanks to ABB and its employees in Bangalore.
By
Editorial services
ABB has “adopted” a government primary school in the suburb of Peenya, close to the company’s automation manufacturing hub, gradually building it up, developing infrastructure and helping to improve teaching standards.
When ABB first started working with the school in 1994, it was a ramshackle five-room building without concrete floors, benches, blackboards or sanitation facilities.
Now the two-storey building has more and well-equipped classrooms, including a computer room, separated washrooms, and a dedicated team of teachers. The number of children aged six to 12 has swelled from 350 in 1995 to 760 today.
Standards are high
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ABB helped modernize the classrooms
A government school in India is traditionally for the poorest of children, but in this Peenya school standards are high. “The school is making it possible for many children from families living well below the poverty line to get a good education, “says teacher Kalingappa Rajappa. “This school is now just as good as a private school.”
Children learn the Karnataka state language (Kannada), Hindi and English, as well as a wide range of subjects like science, social studies, maths and computer literacy.
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Computer teaching is part of the curriculum
ABB and its employees have helped in a variety of ways. Financial support over the past eight years has built additional classrooms, washrooms and gleaming floors. Wood from the nearby ABB Peenya factory has been reworked into classroom benches and tables.
And several wives of ABB employees either teach at the school or train other teachers, improving their English and communications skills.
Ensuring children get a midday meal
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Children receive a midday meal every day
ABB is also financing two other highly beneficial, related programs. A midday meal scheme means that all children receive a nourishing lunch at school – in many cases their only meal of the day. It costs just US$ 3 to provide a child with a midday meal for a month, and a number of ABB employees are supporting the scheme by “sponsoring” groups of children.
And next door to the school is an ABB-supported medical center, run with the HOPE foundation, a non-governmental organization, which has provided health care not only for the children, but also to hundreds of thousands of people who often travel several kilometres to get there.
Health checks
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The health center next to the school
ABB sponsors the doctors, medicines,while the NGO conducts weekly health check-ups, as well as regular health camps, promoting vaccination programs and other preventive care measures.
Without the school, most of the children would have had little education and be condemned to illiteracy and poverty. “They would have been sent out to work by their families,” says Srilatha, who coordinates the company’s support for the school. “Now many of them are going on to further education - literally thankful for a new lease of life!”
ABB and its employees have contributed about US$ 60,000 since 1995 towards developing and supporting the school, the meal scheme, the medical center and the local environment. Contributions to the midday meal scheme can be made through the ABB India Foundation, which is registered as a charitable trust.