September 01, 2018, Hyderabad - Project 511, an initiative of Hyderabad Round Table 8 (HRT8) today celebrated distribution of 25,000 benches drive at Govt High School, NBT Nagar, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad. In today’s event, Project 511 donated 100 benches to NBT Nagar School taking the benches donated so far to 23,714. The balance benches are scheduled to be donated to various Govt schools in the next 30 days bringing the total donated benches to 25,000. With the help of benches donation drive. Project 511 is trying to provide quality educational facilities for the underprivileged.
Many of the leading corporates of Hyderabad have been extremely supportive of their initiatives.
Speaking on the activities of Project 511, Mr. Adetya Agarwal, Chairman of Hyderabad Round Table 8 and Trustee of Project 511 said, “We have found support from Government, Round Tables in the area, Corporate and individual donors who have come forward to help us achieve our goal of providing basic facilities in Government schools. We are on course to finishing our existing initiatives and have started new initiatives based on learning outcomes. ”
Managing Director & CEO of CYIENT Ltd Mr. Krishna Bodanapu said “We believe in the philosophy that sustained development of society is vital to the sustained growth of the businesses that exist within that community. This belief has led us to spend over 2% of our net profits towards C:SR initiatives."
Since its inception, Project 511 has grown by leaps and bounds and is currently working with 1022 schools in Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, Sangareddy, Medchal and Medak districts. Cumulatively, it has touched the lives of more than 200,000 children in last 10 years. Project 511 focuses on two main areas - infrastructure and competency. The former area (infrastructure) deals with ensuring adequate blackboards, sanitation and seating for students, while the latter (competency) provides learning material and facilities like science labs etc. This is the one project which has been bringing about significant change with focused initiatives and ensuring that the benefits trickle down to the grass root levels. So far, Project 511 has been able to execute the following.
- 83 classrooms built
- 6,820 blackboards donated
- 23,614 seating benches donated
- 489 toilet blocks constructed 307 science lab kits donated
- 9,000 plus learning material kits donated
- English learning program being implemented in 50 schools
About Project 511
Right to Education is a fundamental right as guaranteed under RTE Act. Many poor children attend private schools despite government schools being free. This is because private schools have resources to create a good schooling environment whereas the government schools lack in basic facilities - blackboards, benches, toilets, running water, cleaning staff, and others. The need to improve these facilities is what prompted HRT8 (Hyderabad Round Table 8) in 2003 to start Project 511 initiative. The vision is to enable quality learning environment in government schools by liaising with all the stakeholders - government other NGOs, corporates and local communities.
About Hyderabad Round Table 8 (HRT8)
Hyderabad Round Table 8 is a member of Round Table India (RTI) - a fellowship and community service organization. One of the oldest and most active organizations in the country, the RTI initiated the Freedom through Education campaign in the early 2000s with the vision to put 1 million children, who would have otherwise stayed illiterate, in schools. RTI has built over 600 schools in India, of which 40 schools have been built in Hyderabad.
