The Foundation essentially works with children and youth from urban, disadvantaged communities in India. In the cur-rent year, it will reach out to as many as 80,000+ primary and 400,000+ secondary beneficiaries. Of these, at least 50% are girls/young women and 10% are people with disa-bilities. The Foundation has also connected 10,000+ asso-ciates over 50,000+ hours with its beneficiaries through a robust corporate volunteering programme. Tech Mahindra’s social work is currently focused upon three areas – School Education, Employability and Tech-nical Education. Of these, the initiatives under first two ver-ticals are directly managed by the Foundation, and those under the last one are carried out through Mahindra Educa-tional Institutions (MEI). In the current year, 2015-16, the Foundation is running 150+ projects at 10 locations in 9 states/union-territories of India. The Foundation has forged long-term partnerships with government, non-government, corporate and institutional agencies. Many of its flagship initiatives under the educa-tion programme, such as the In-Service Teacher Education Institute, Toll-free Helpline for Government School Teach-ers and the Shikshak Samman Award Scheme, are run in close coordination with the government, while others are run with a network of 90+ partners across India.

“Educated, skilled and able women and men are a country’s true strength. We aspire to see

children who are purposefully engaged, youth that is constructively employed and a society that provides equal opportunities

to people with different abilities. Through its corporate social responsibility initiatives,

the Mahindra Group commits itself to this.” Tech Mahindra’s social initiatives are carried out by Tech Mahindra Foundation (TMF), its corporate social responsi-bility (CSR) arm. The Foundation was set up in 2007, as a Section 25 Com-pany (referred to as a Section 8 Company in the Compa-nies Act, 2013). Since then, it has worked tirelessly to-wards the vision of ‘Empowering through Education’, es-tablishing itself as a prominent CSR player within the Mahindra Group as well as a leading social organization at a national level.

Empowering through Education

THE SCHOOL EDUCATION PROGRAMME The Foundation’s work in education focuses upon three thematic areas: school improvement, teacher empowerment and learning enrichment. The programmes are run in two modes — directly im-plemented through the Foundation and with partner organisations. The key initiatives include: All Round Improvement in School Education — ARISE: these are long-term school improvement programmes, run in partnership with local governments, and expert partner organisations. This year, the Foundation has adopted 55 schools across India and is working with 18 partners to turn them around completely into model schools of excellence. The ARISE programme builds upon four dimensions of a school — academic, social, organizational and infrastructural. ARISE+ is a special programme which encompasses education em-powerment initiatives for children with disabilities. Shikshaantar, envisioned for creating a difference to education, de-scribes the Foundations teacher empowerment and system en-hancement programme. This includes its work through the In-Service Teacher Education Institute (ITEI) and a model school at East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC). This year, the pro-gramme is targeting capacity enhancement of 1500 teachers, 400 school heads and 70 education functionaries across East Delhi Mu-nicipal Corporation’s primary schooling system, and training of 120 master trainers. The programme works with EDMC and various na-tional/state-level technical resource agencies. The five-year Cambridge English programme with Chennai Munici-pal Corporation will build capacities of 250 teachers, on language and pedagogy and build a sustainable and cost-effective network for English language teacher development. Likewise, teachers of 100 balwadis running in Municipal Corporation Schools of Mumbai, and those in 25 primary/pre-primary schools under Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation in Pune are getting trained in pedagogical aspects under the programme. Another aspect of Shikshaantar is felicitating outstanding teachers of municipal schools of Delhi through the Foundation’s flagship Shikshak Samman Award programme. The programme has been awarded the Silver Award for Best CSR Practices in Education, by CSR Times. Shiksha Samvardhan — the education enrichment programme — is a thematic intervention around the learning enhancement initiatives of the Foundation, towards making learning interesting, child-centred and activity-based to reduce cumulative burden of non-comprehension and to promote grade-appropriate competencies. The programme largely works with children who remain or have fall-en out of the safety net of the education system. The various thematic categories include creating learning centres for education, remediation and bridge programmes, life skills and sports for development, ICT-enabled education services, early child-hood care and education, and after-school support programmes. The Foundation runs 12 projects under Shiksha Samwardhan.

THE EMPLOYABILITY PROGRAMME

SMART or Skills for Market Training is the Foundation’s flagship programme, which is built on the vision of an edu-cated, enlightened and employed India, and a belief that educated and skilled youth are the country’s true strength. The programme started with 3 Centres in 2012 and is cur-rently running 65 Centres at 10 locations across India. These include SMART Centres, SMART+ Centres (training for people with disabilities), SMART-T Centres (training in technical trades) and the SMART Academy. The SMART Academy is the next level of the programme, which will be a state-of-the-art centre imparting high-quality vocational skills training, with a blend of classroom, practical and on-the-job training. The Academy will closely engage with the industry stalwarts for constant curriculum up-gradation and placement. It will train more than 1000 youth and make them employable in higher paying jobs in the organised sector. The Foundation has also undertaken a research project in vocational education and training (RiVET) along with the National Skill Development Authority (NSDA), to understand the overall scope of skill development in India. Youth from disadvantaged urban communities and in im-mediate need of jobs are the beneficiary group of SMART. The training starts with a Foundation course comprising of Spoken English, Workplace Readiness and Basic IT/Computers. It offers a range of specialized courses, includ-ing Customer Relationships and Sales, Hospitality, IT-Enabled Services and BPO, Lab Assistant, Multimedia, Nurse Aides, Office Administration, Pharmacy Assistant, Quick Service Restaurants and Tally. In addition, the SMART-T offers training in technical trades like Automobile Technician, Civil Works, Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) Machine Technician, AC and Refrigeration, Electri-cian, Fitter and Maintenance Technician and Welding.

75-80% of the graduates are placed in jobs upon success-ful completion of the training, thereby filling the demand-supply gap across multiple industries and the service sec-tor, with average salaries ranging between INR 8,000-12,000 / month. Some of the notable brands employing SMART graduates include the likes of Ace Solution, Aegis, Airtel, Auchan, Ax-is Bank, Barista, Big Bazaar, Blue Dart, Burger King, Café Coffee Day, Club Mahindra, Cognizant, Costa Cofeee, DMRC, Domino’s, DTDC, Easy Day, Eureka Forbes, First Object Technologies, Flipkart, Fun ‘n’ Food, Future Group, HCL Technologies, HDFC Bank, Health and Glow, Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS), Idea, ING Vysya Bank, Inorbit Mall, Inox, Karvy, Kenith Parker, KFC, Landmark Group (Lifestyle, Max), Little Shop, Mahindra Finance, Mahindra Holiday Homes, Manpower Group, Max Healthcare, McDonald’s, Metro Cash & Carry, Metro Mall, Mitsubishi, Mobile Store, Modi 24x7, ModiCare, Mom & Me, More, My Health Pharmacy, Myntra, NetAmbit, Nilgris Super Market, NSB BPO, Oriental Cuisines, Pantaloons, Pizza Hut, Proc-tor and Gamble, Puma India, Puma Retail, Randstad India, Reliance Fresh, Royal Enfield, RR Donnelley, Samsung Service Center, Shoppers’ Stop, SKS Micorfinance, Spen-cer’s, Sriven Corporation, Tata Business Support Services, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Tata Docomo, Tatwa Technology, Tech Mahindra, Tech Mahindra BPO, Tech Mahindra BSG, Tech Mahindra Foundation, Times Group (Indiatimes.com), TVS Suzuki, Vango Restaurants, Vasudev Adigas, Vertex BPO, Vishal Mega Mart, Voda-fone, Walmart India, Westside, Wipro and many more.

The core values of all programmes at the Foundation are: - 50% beneficiaries of CSR spend to be girls/women - empowerment of persons with disability - corporate volunteering by Tech Mahindra Limited associates

Corporate Office: Tech Mahindra Foundation Mahindra Towers, Bhikaji Cama Place New Delhi 110066 INDIA www.techmahindrafoundation.org info@techmahindrafoundation.org India Chapters: Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi/NCR, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Visakhapatnam

PR/media-related queries: Rishi Vashistha, Marketing Communications rishi.vashistha@techmahindra.com +91 11 4573 4722