by Suman Gupta
· The specialty chemicals company has been strengthening its education services at its global locations for the last 10 years
· Investments of around rupees sixty one crores in education since 2008, including over rupees five crores in India alone
· Over 500 projects completed in 17 countries, including 22 in India
Thane – For the specialty chemicals company LANXESS, social commitment, particularly with regard to exceptional education and training, has been one of the main areas of focus of its corporate policy for more than a decade now. The company launched its global education initiative in the middle of 2008 and will continue its commitment into the future. This year alone, the group is supporting at least 10 projects in India and 35 projects in Germany, with nearly 40 further projects worldwide.
“Education is the basis for the future viability of our country. The development of young people is therefore vital for us,” Rainier van Roessel, member of the board at LANXESS AG, explains the commitment of the group. “To continue to expand our position in global markets in the future, we need skilled and motivated human resource. Consequently, we want to stir enthusiasm for education at school. With our commitment, we want to encourage children and young adults to shape the future of business and their own futures.”
The specialty chemicals company has invested around eight million euros in education initiatives since 2008 to improve education and knowledge services for young people, including investments of more than rupees five crores in India. Around 700,000 students have benefited from the program in total, globally. The company has worked on over 500 education projects over the past decade, including around 22 in India. “These significant figures also highlight our commitment to India” says van Roessel.
Focus on educational infrastructure
As part of its continual commitment towards educational initiatives, LANXESS India extended its support to Teach For India (TFI) by pledging a five year commitment to support the non-profit organization’s efforts towards providing quality education to children. The company has so far contributed an amount over INR 3,70,00,000 in the past seven years.
Push on digitalization of educational resources
LANXESS India asserted its commitment for technological intervention in educational empowerment by setting up e-learning tools in Government College, Nagda, in 2017. This project was in line with LANXESS’s vision of a digital future and also finds resonance with the current government’s focus on creating a digitally empowered nation. Similar tools were provided to seven other municipals schools in Jhagadia & Thane. The e-learning tools will help in familiarizing students with the technological advances in education that the students from urban regions enjoy. These tools have pre-loaded content for students that is mapped with the education board. They are loaded with virtual activities like 2D and 3D graphics, voice overs and interactive content among others and helps the students as well as the teachers in explaining and understanding basic concepts. This initiative is expected to benefit over 4000 students every year.
The company also supported computer literacy by assisting in setting up a computer training center for students and working professionals. The initiative taken by the company was to provide access to the latest computers to the workers in Nagda where they contributed computers along with electrical accessories and initial infrastructure necessary for setting up the center.
Various forms of support for education sector
In Fulwadi and Selod in Jhagadia, LANXESS India undertook initiatives to renovate the municipal school building and play area for children and incorporated various facilities like watercoolers, ceiling fans, toilet blocks, repairing of school gate and painting the boundary walls among others.
LANXESS has collaborated with the local municipal body in Nagda and set up a fully functional library equipped with textbooks, reference books, journals, magazines in order to assist in the education of students studying in secondary school, high schools and colleges.
And while supporting with teaching aids is critical, making the commute to access education smoother is another area that needed serious focus. Taking note of the difficulties students faced in travelling, LANXESS India donated a 42-seater bus to the municipal corporation for the students of the Government College in Nagda which provided a reliable transport facility and made travel easier for the students.
With its motto – “Good for Business. Good for Society” LANXESS views education as an area that has the maximum potential to benefit the lives of citizens of tomorrow. Quality education in every sense plays a significant role in achieving sustainable economic development and no country can secure economic and social progress without substantial investment in education. LANXESS believes it is its natural responsibility to ensure that it works toward conducting initiatives that can facilitate the growth of education which will bring positive and meaningful change in the lives of the people.
LANXESS is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 9.7 billion in 2017 and about 19,200 employees in 25 countries. The company is currently represented at 74 production sites worldwide. The core business of LANXESS is the development, manufacturing and marketing of chemical intermediates, additives, specialty chemicals and plastics. Through ARLANXEO, the joint venture with Saudi Aramco, LANXESS is also a leading supplier of synthetic rubber. LANXESS is listed in the leading sustainability indices Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI World and Europe) and FTSE4Good.
