Coca-Cola Support My School recognizes the efforts of the Principals & Teachers of schools covered by the campaign

General V. P. Malik (Retd), Chairman of the Advisory Council for Environment & Sustainability (ACES), Coca-Cola India , Mr. Deepak Jolly, Vice President, Public Affairs and Communications, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia and Mr. Kumar Anish, Director, Training & Development, Sikshana Foundation, along with other dignitaries honor teaching staff.
The school is one of eight schools which have been revitalized in Karnataka under Season 2 of the Support My School campaign. Principals of all 8 schools were present at the event.
Revitalized facilities include access to safe drinking water, separate toilets for boys and girls, promotion of physical sports and recreation

Ramnagar, 7th November, 2013: The Support My School campaign, an initiative to build happy, healthy and active schools for students in rural and semi-urban areas, today honoured the Teaching Staff at Government Rural Upper Primary School, Kodihalli Village, Ramanagar District. Chosen as a beneficiary of the campaign, the school has been provided facilities such as access to safe drinking water and separate toilets for boys and girls under the campaign. The Support My School campaign recently commemorated completion of 250 schools touching the lives of over 80,000 students.

General V. P. Malik (Retd),Chairman of the Advisory Council for Environment & Sustainability (ACES), Coca-Cola India, Mr. Deepak Jolly, Vice President, Public Affairs and Communications, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia, Mr. Kumar Anish, Director, Training & Development, Sikshana Foundation along with other dignitaries and Principals of all 8 schools revitalized under this season were present at the ceremony. The students of the school also presented a cultural programme for the dignitaries.

General V. P. Malik (Retd),Chairman of the Advisory Council for Environment & Sustainability (ACES), Coca-Cola India said about the campaign, “Support my School is one of the most innovative social-responsibility campaigns in India bringing together organizations and students across India and sometimes even globally. Coca-Cola India is committed to reaching out to even the most remote areas of the country and every school revitalized under the campaign brings us closer to our goal of providing the children of this nation with a holistic school environment where they can learn and grow.”

Speaking about the project, Mr. Puneet Varshney, Zonal Vice President, Coca-Cola India said, “Working along with the communities to build a sustainable framework and aim towards continuous growth has been our aim at Coca-Cola India. This has been one of the prime motivators for the Support My School Campaign. We have our eyes set on the future and this helps us stay connected to the communities and ecosystems we operate in. We have reached a milestone of 250 schools under this campaign and look forward to reaching more students through this initiative. We would like to thank all our partners especially the community, the teachers and the team of Sikshana foundation and CAF for their leadership role. ”

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.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Kumar Anish, Director, Training & Development, Sikshana Foundation said, “It has been a privilege to have been associated with Support My School as a Campaign Partner. This initiative enables us to touch the lives of many students and provide them with facilities that enrich their learning experience at the schools. The campaign helps us in providing the students a holistic environment to learn and grow.”

Thanking the campaign partners and the dignitaries present, Mr. Chamraj, Head Master, Government Rural Upper Primary School, Kodihalli Village, Ramanagar District said, “It has been a wonderful experience to be chosen under this campaign as our students today have a much better learning space to study and develop. The facilities provided under the campaign will benefit our students for a long time to come. Support My School has given our school a fresh lease of life and I thank all the partners for this great opportunity”

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