Study Group, UK managing director, James Pitman

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the decision-making and implementation process that guides all company activities.

It is centred on fundamental values and beliefs in relation to international human rights, labour and environmental standards.

The ideology behind CSR is that it should not be a forced or a mechanical process, but rather an organic transition that should be shared throughout the organisation, from board-level to junior staff.

CSR policies are important in their own right and should not be adopted for image or financial purposes: sustainability is a concept that is here to stay and will soon become an integral part of an organisation’s licence to operate, rather than simply an ethical choice.
 
The crux of all effective CSR policies lies in creating an opportunity for the organisation and its employees to give something back. Taking Study Group as an example; we are an international organisation that is conscious of its global responsibilities. As experts in the field of education, we felt it appropriate to direct our core CSR policy towards education in developing countries.

There is an enormous disparity in educational provisions across the world and we felt that this was something Study Group could become involved in and make a difference by helping to fund schools in disadvantaged communities. This led to the foundation of the Study Group’s charitable vehicle, the Building Futures project.

The Building Futures project was initiated in the aftermath of the Asian Tsunami in 2004, and enabled Study Group staff to make a contribution to a central fund for the rebuilding of communities affected by the natural disaster; in particular the reconstruction of schools. The organisation pledged to match every donation, pound for pound. Since inception the Building Futures fund has raised £100,000.

The money has been donated to Plan, a child-centred international organisation which works in 49 developing countries and directly supports more than 1.5m children and their families across Africa, Asia and the Americas. The funds raised by Study Group successfully financed school projects in Indonesia, Benin and Brazil. Further plans for a fourth school are underway, with possible future locations including China and Sri Lanka.

Study Group linked with Plan in 2005 and saw the first school in Aceh, Indonesia completed in 2006, the second school in Benin completed in 2007 and the third and most recent project in Brazil completed in August this year.

The Brazil project saw the construction of four new classrooms and a computer room at the Rozalina Zaidan School in Codo Nova.

As an urban slum on the outskirts of Codó, Codó Nova has a population of 25,000 and is one of the poorest parts the region. Codo Nova faces a number of social problems, including a lack of urban services, high illiteracy rates, low educational enrolment, violence and widespread drug and alcohol use. These are compounded by insufficient access to education services in Codó Nova, which has left many children with very few options in terms of livelihood and prospects for the future.

The Rozalina Zaidan School suffered from overcrowding, with children attending in shifts, and 300 children in the area receiving no education at all due to a lack of resources. The classrooms were in a poor state of repair and ill-equipped. Temporary classrooms were often used to house the increasing number of students. Classes were frequently integrated with others causing overcrowding and resulting in a difficult learning environment.

In line with Plan’s child-centred community development approach, children were instrumental in the development of the project - their ideas and wishes were listened to and every effort was made to ensure that their expectations were met.

In order to sustain the project for future generations of the Codó Nova community, it was necessary to get the community involved from day one with the construction and future maintenance of the school.

Through the creation of a Community Management Committee, stakeholders developed a real sense of ownership and responsibility, thus committing themselves to the maintenance of facilities they themselves played a key role in providing. The overarching responsibility of the community in relation to project management, accounting and implementation has meant their continual involvement. The committee has also become a vehicle for fostering the active involvement and participation of parents in their children’s education.

As well as working with the community, the project was developed in partnership with the Municipal Secretary of Education from Codó. The involvement of the municipality ensures the maintenance and administration of the school and provides additional support to run the enlarged school programme.

After a lot of hard work, perseverance and faith, the community of Codó Nova, working with Plan and Study Group, has ensured a long-term and sustainable commitment to education in the Codo Nova community.

The Building Futures project aims to fund the building of at least one new school per year. Study Group also has future plans to utilise their accumulated teaching expertise to be distributed into carefully selected educationally deprived areas.

Building Futures forms a core strand of Study Group’s wider CSR strategy, alongside its environmental initiatives, which include a carbon offset scheme, strict recycling and waste management policies and the use of environmentally friendly heating, cooling and ventilation systems in all new Study Group buildings worldwide.

As a leading international education provider, Study Group is committed to working with developing countries towards equal education opportunities for children across the globe.