SUPPORT MY SCHOOL CAMPAIGN COMPLETES 250 SCHOOLS ON ITS PATH TO CREATING HEALTHY, ACTIVE AND HAPPY SCHOOLS FOR STUDENTS PAN INDIA

Celebrating the completion of 250 schools under the nationally acclaimed Support My School campaign, Mrs. Surina Rajan IAS, Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Haryana, Mr. Suresh IAS, Director General, Director of Elementary Education, Govt. of Haryana ,Mr. Bhupinder Suri, VP, Franchisee Operations, Coca-Cola India and Dr. Suresh Reddy, Director, SRF Foundation dedicated the Government Girls Primary School in Nuh, Haryana to the students and community.
The school has been revitalized under the famed Support My School campaign – A movement for Healthy, Active and Happy schools in rural and semi-urban India – with facilities such as separate toilets for boys and girls, better access to clean drinking water, sports facilities and a rainwater harvesting unit.
With this, The Support My School campaign has completed revitalization in 250 schools since its launch in January 2011, touching the lives of over 1 lakh students.
Also present to lend their support were Mr. Pramod, State RTE Coordinator; Mr. Vinay Singh Yadav, DC, Mewat and Mr. Pradeep Godara, ADC, Mewat.
The school has been revitalized with contributions from campaign partners SRF Foundation and Tetra Pak.

Nuh, 14th October, 2013: Celebrating the completion of 250 schools under their nationally acclaimed Support My School campaign, Coca-Cola India, in association with campaign partners SRF Foundation and Tetra Pak, dedicated the Government Girls Primary School in Nuh, Haryana, revitalized under the campaign.

Present to mark the event and dedicate the school to the students and community were Mrs. Surina Rajan IAS, Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Haryana, Mr. Suresh IAS, Director General, Director of Elementary Education, Govt. of Haryana, Mr. Bhupinder Suri, VP, Franchisee Operations, Coca-Cola India and Dr. Suresh Reddy, Director, SRF Foundation.

Also present to lend their support were Mr. Pramod, State RTE Coordinator; Mr. Vinay Singh Yadav, DC, Mewat and Mr. Pradeep Godara, ADC, Mewat.

With this milestone of 250 schools revitalized under the campaign, Support My School has touched the lives of over 1 lakh students since its launch in January 2011. Pledges of over Rs. 13.5 crore were raised for revitalization work under the second season of the campaign, which was officially kicked off in August 2012. Campaign partners SRF Foundation and Tetra Pak contributed towards the revitalization of the Government Girls Primary School in Nuh.

Mr. Venkatesh Kini, Deputy Business Unit President, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia said, “I congratulate the entire Coca-Cola India system at the commencement of operations at this Moon Beverages plant at Greater Noida. This plant will serve the growing consumer demand for high quality, great tasting, and safe packaged beverages. Being a country with one of the lowest per capita consumption levels for packaged beverages, we see steady and robust growth in both sparkling and still beverage categories.”

Speaking about the project, Mr. Bhupinder Suri, VP, Franchisee Operations, Coca-Cola India said, “The Support My School campaign is a shining example of several partners coming together to create positive and progressive change amongst local communities. The campaign has been successful in encouraging thousands of students in rural and semi-urban areas to get back to their education, through provision of basic amenities such as toilets, safe water, libraries and sports facilities. As we complete 250 schools today, it gives me great pleasure to be part of this exciting milestone. We are well on our way to reaching our goal of 350 schools by the end of 2013. I want to thank all the campaign partners, students and teachers who have been part of this wonderful journey.”

Launched in January 2011, the Support My School campaign aims to create happy and healthy learning environments for students across rural and semi-urban India by providing schools with basic amenities such as access to water and proper toilets for girls and boys. Over 43,000 students across 10 states were impacted over Season 1 of the campaign. Season 2 has extended this reach to over 15 states and aims to complete 350 schools by the end of this year.

Mrs. Surina Rajan IAS, Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Haryana, said, “I am very pleased to see the kind of efforts that have been put in to bring in improvement to the school quality by Coca-Cola Support my School campaign. While the government has made provisions, there is still a recognised need for add on facilitators and catalysts. We have a strong NGO partnership here with support of SRF foundation and Tetra Pack. The much needed exposure in sports, providing textual material and library facilities and with added focus on health and sanitation, the Support my School campaign has raised the bar for others to follow suit. The campaign is a testimony to the fact that schooling is not limited to textbook but also effectively applying the information and knowledge gained through everyday activities.”

Dr. Suresh Reddy, Director, SRF Foundation said, “We are proud to be part of the Support My School campaign which has been creating waves across the country with its tremendous success over the last 2 years. The amenities being provided under this campaign are instrumental in not just bringing students back to school but empowering the entire communities for a stronger base in the field of education. At SRF Foundation, it has been our mission to achieve quality education and training that inspires children and youth from all sections of society. This campaign has been a shining cap on our agenda on this path. Congratulations to all campaign partners on this wonderful achievement.”

Thanking the campaign partners, Shri Jaybhagwan, Principal, Government Girls Primary School said, “Support My School has helped us fulfill our aspiration of building a competent school to support and encourage the students in our area. Today, we boast amenities which were earlier confined only to schools with higher funding. I would like to congratulate Coca-Cola, SRF Foundation, Tetra Pak and all other campaign partners on initiating this effort and making a difference to the lives of all our students. Thank you for taking up this task.”

About Support My School Campaign

Coca-Cola India joined hands with NDTV to launch Support My School in association with UN-Habitat, Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), Pearson Foundation and Tata Teleservices. It undertakes the following core activities:

Provision of improved access to water
Appropriate sanitation facility for girls and boys
Improvement in the overall infrastructure and environment
Provision for sports and recreation facilities and
Recharging groundwater through rainwater harvesting

With such necessary amenities in place, schools are able to provide a cleaner and healthier environment more conducive to learning.

Education in rural India suffers from several issues where lack of sanitation is a key reason for absenteeism and dropouts amongst students. This is especially noted in young girls who are forced to quit as they enter adolescence due to a lack of clean and functional toilets. Children are also likely to fall sick more often without clean water to drink or to wash hands. Support My School endeavors to eliminate this basic concern by spreading the initiative across the country with the help of campaign partners to execute the same.

About Coca-Cola and Citizenship

The Coca-Cola Company has always placed high value on good citizenship. At the heart of business is a mission statement called the Coca-Cola Promise — “The Coca-Cola Company exists to benefit and refresh everyone that it touches.” This basic proposition means that the company’s business should refresh the markets, protect, preserve and enhance the environment and strengthen the community. Coca-Cola India provides extensive support for community programs across the country, with a focus on education, health and water conservation. For further information on Company’s India operations and its products, please visit www.coca-colaindia.com

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