Quality Education

Education is the most powerful weapon to change the world.

(HDFC LIFE)

“Education is a human right with immense power to transform. On its foundation rest the cornerstones of freedom, democracy, and sustainable human development”.

-Kofi Annan-

Importance of Education

Education is the most powerful aspect that plays a vital role in the modern, Industrialized world. People need a good education to survive in this cut and throat competition. Modern society is based on people who have high living standards and knowledge which allows them to implement better solutions to their problems.

Education gives us knowledge of the world around us. It develops in us a perspective of looking at life. It is the most important element in the evolution of the nation. without education, one will not explore new ideas. It means one will not able to develop the world because without ideas there is no creativity and without creativity, there is no development of the nation.

Education empowers everyone. Some of the areas where education helps are:

1.?????Removing poverty:- Education helps in removing poverty as if a person is educated, he can get a good job and fulfill all the basic needs and requirements of his family.

2.?????Women Empowerment:- Education also helps in empowering women. Certain old customers like not remarrying widows, sati pratha, Child marriage, the Dowry system, etc. can be demolished with the power of education. Women if educated can raise their voices against the injustice done to them. This will bring a lot of development in society as well as in the nation. In short, the right to freedom of speech and expression can be used in the right way if all women will become educated.

3.?????Upliftment of economically weaker section of society:- Education is the most important ingredient to change the world. Due to lack of education, many illiterate people suffer the hardships of discrimination, untouchability, and injustice prevailing in the society but with the advancement of a good education. If all the people will be educated this ultimately leads to the upliftment of economically weaker sections of society.

4.?????Commerce and Trade:- A good education doesn’t simply mean going to school or college and getting a degree. Trade and commerce of the country will also be flourished easily if its citizens are well-educated. Education helps to become self-dependent and build great confidence among them to accomplish difficult tasks. On getting an education, their standard of life gets improved.

5.?????Safety and Security against crime:- If a person is well-educated, he will not be fooled by anyone easily. An educated person is less prone to involve in domestic violence and other social evils. They enjoy healthy relationships in life, This means people are less susceptible to being cheated or becoming a victim of violence.

Education act as a Back Bone of a Society. It means innovation and creativity can’t be ignored as a lack of education gives birth to numerous social problems like poor health, internal conflict, poor living standards, and many more. It helps people to find a better solution to their problem Education lets people realize the true value of contribution and help become the backbone of society.

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NOW LET’S SEE THE EDUCATION INITIATIVE TAKEN BY HDFC LIFE

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Vision

HDFC Life’s business philosophy highlights the theme of self-respect and independence. HDFC Life has undertaken CSR activities with the basic aim of contributing towards easing distress and aiding in the advancement of society while engaging with stakeholders; thereby becoming a socially responsible corporate citizen. The vision statement of HDFC Life about its CSR activities is as follows:

i.????????????The Company aspires to be a responsible Corporate Citizen by contributing to nation-building through CSR projects/programs, in true letter and spirit, as enshrined in the Act.

ii.???????????The Policy, which has been made in alignment with the vision and values of the Company, lays down guidelines and mechanisms to be adopted by the Company to carry out CSR projects/programs.

iii.??????????All CSR interventions will be conceived and implemented through a focused approach towards target beneficiaries for generating maximum impact.

iv.??????????CSR initiatives of the Company will be carried out in partnership with credible implementing agencies and directly through projects executed by project management teams.

?Our Education and Livelihood initiatives aim to create enabling conditions for the underprivileged children to stay in school and complete their schooling, and also to improve learning outcomes for better skills and abilities. To create a stimulating learning experience, our implementation partners have introduced modern teaching and assessment methods that help children achieve higher learning levels and better results.

For example, in our blended learning project, we have provided 120 digital tablets to introduce e-learning. More than 2,220 girl children are being integrated into formal schooling across multiple districts in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, by providing a parallel education support system through learning centers.

?The Ek Samudaya Ek Abhiyaan initiative by one of our implementing partners is helping garner support from the larger community, government system, as well as from Panchayati Raj representatives, in the form of mobilizing soaps, sanitizers, books, mats for children, as well as arrangement of open spaces where Alternate Learning Approach (ALA) teaching methods can be implemented.

?EQUIP was implemented to enable children, their parents, and the community to cope with the ‘new normal’ and create a seamless learning system to empower the community.

?As the Digital India movement took shape, making it inclusive for all sections of society was imperative. This could be manifested at the grassroots level by digitizing the learning environments with Digital Classrooms. With tech-based education, students would now be able to cross the threshold from the pen and paper era and enter a whole new world of possibilities available at a single click. It would also serve as a magical phenomenon to get students excited and interested in academics.

?Project Evolution reaches out to 2,825 children in seven smart classrooms. A typical smart class comprises an integrated learning tool - smartboard or K-YAN, interactive multimedia content, interactive experiment and concept simulations, scientific and educational videos, along with teacher pieces of training and capacity building.

Through our Education for All project, we support 90 orphans with a full fee subsidy, including living expenses, for higher education in 23 locations across 16 states. In rural Tamil Nadu, 190 children are provided scholarships and fee subsidies across 9 schools.

During the year, video lessons and worksheets were shared with 200+ students on WhatsApp and via Zoom calls, while experts in various fields delivered weekly ‘Get?Mentored’ sessions. For students who did not have smartphones, lessons were printed and distributed. Interactive webinars with eminent speakers were organized twice a week, with the implementing partner’s global volunteer support. The Mushahar community is still one of the most backward groups. We support free education in a 100% Mushahar dedicated English medium CBSE boarding school for 600+ children in the outskirts of Patna. In Dharamshala, we support primary school education of 150 children - from nursery to class 10, including their food, uniforms, meals, stationery, and rental for the school building. We support 333 underprivileged children (mainly girls) with a full fee subsidy in a school in Hyderabad. These schools do not have a dropout.

We have supported the work towards the restoration/ renovation of a heritage building that houses a school in Mumbai. The project will touch 3,000 lives. To promote financial literacy, we have reached out to 92,080 beneficiaries, especially women, through intensive classroom training and mass awareness sessions across multiple locations in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttarakhand. To create a world of equal opportunities, 250 youth were provided professional training and 521 youth were mobilized across 6 orientation sessions in colleges. This employability skill-building project has achieved a 95% average graduation rate across batches. Our support for education projects also acts as a job creator, especially amongst the local women. For instance, 74 teachers are supported through our Girl Child Education projects in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

CSR Framework of HDFC Life

1.???HDFC Life may undertake CSR activities in any of the following areas, which are in line with Schedule VII of Companies Act, 2013 in education Promoting education, including special education and employment enhancing vocational skills among children, women, elderly, and the differently-abled and livelihood enhancement projects

Composition of CSR Committee

1. Mr. Deepak S. Parekh (Chairman )

?2. Mr. Ranjan Mathai (Independent Director )

?3. Ms. Vibha Padalkar Managing (Director & CEO)

source: Annual-Report-FY-2020-2021 HDFC LIFE.pdf

Responses to covid

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3 COVID-19 Response: Healthcare facilities and supplies Promoting health care including preventive health care and providing medical support to essential health workers

1)????Gamru School Promoting education amongst underprivileged children by providing scholarships and fee subsidies in Himachal Pradesh, Dharamshala 0.06,?Community Growth Society CSR00006939

2)???Evolution Providing quality education to underprivileged children through digital classrooms Yes, partially Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra Tamil Nadu, Telangana Ahmedabad, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad 0.71 No Yuva Unstoppable CSR00000473

3)????Education for all Promoting education of orphaned children by providing financial support for education No Maharashtra Haryana, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, Telangana, Rajasthan, Puducherry, Punjab, Meghalaya, Jammu and Kashmir, Tripura, Andhra Pradesh Albaugh, Bawana, Bhimtal, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Cochin, Faridabad, Guwahati, Hojai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Latur, Nagapattinam, Puducherry, Pune, Rajpura, Rourkela, Shillong, Srinagar, Tripura, Trichur, Vishakhapatnam 0.40 No SOS Children's Villages of India CSR00000692

4)????Vidhya Promoting education among underprivileged children by providing scholarships and fee subsidies No Tamil Nadu Coimbatore, Erode, Nagercoil, Tuticorin, Villupuram, Salem, Cuddalore, Dharmapuri, Karur 0.25 No Isha Education Trust CSR00002614

5)????Udbhav School Promoting education among underprivileged children by providing scholarships No Telangana Hyderabad 0.15 No IIMAAA (Hyderabad Chapter) Charitable Trust CSR00001664

6)????Blended Learning Promoting education among underprivileged children by providing an improved learning environment Yes, partially Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu Ahmedabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore 0.14 No Teach to Lead CSR00002271

7)????Employability Skill Promoting livelihood by providing skill training and placements of youth Yes Maharashtra Mumbai 0.20 No TNS India Foundation CSR00001337

8)????Creating City Forests Promoting environmental sustainability through the creation of city forest covers using Miyawaki plantation method Yes Maharashtra Mumbai, Thane 0.18 No Keshav Srushti CSR00002691

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Education offers adaptability

Once again, curiosity helps all animals, including us humans, to learn new things. Yet, we differ in one primary function. Humans have the natural capability to receive, processing and store data we gain from experiences or the five senses. Furthermore, we humans can utilize, adapt or exploit our data to suit our requirements. This inherent capacity to process raw data from our senses and experiences translates as education. Thus, we can adapt our needs according to prevailing conditions at any point in time.

Understanding the Responsibility

As social beings, it is our responsibility to give something back to society and make it a better place for the next generation. An uneducated man can’t be fully aware of his personal as well as social responsibilities. Proper education teaches a person to think beyond his interests and also provides him the ability to give something back to society.

Future commitment

We are committed to the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We promote access to free education, livelihood, healthcare and sanitation, and a cleaner environment. COVID-19 has unleashed unprecedented challenges for human life, and in this transforming environment, we have focused our fight against the virus on employee safety marginalised sections of the society.

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