Access to Education & Training

Access to Education & Training is a fundamental aspect of an individual’s social, economic stability. It is closely interrelated with a person’s rights and well-being. The “differences in training levels is a significant factor that separates developed and developing countries.”

Education and training are crucial factors boosting health and productivity. Disadvantaged groups and/or marginalized ones have a harder time devoting/accessing education to boost one’s possibilities. Here, companies can bridge the gap by providing highly-skilled training that will help anyone acquire more qualifying skills and knowledge that can be used to ameliorate the living standard.

Time has proven that companies are required not only to market their products and services but also to market themselves to maintain and further develop a competitive edge. By being socially responsible, companies manage to acquire more visibility, reputation with the public and potential investors.

Being civic and socially responsible can be the driving force for local development (LD). LD is a social science theory based on “the identification and use of the resources and endogenous potentialities of a community, neighborhood, city, municipality or equivalent.” Both economic and non-economic factors can influence LD.

Non-economic factors include: “social, cultural, historical, institutional, and geographical aspects.” In other words, encouraging local education & culture, youth activities, and helping locals tackle community problems.

Sources

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/09/education-training-advantages.asp
https://learningandwork.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Barriers-to-learning-for-disadvantaged-groups.pdf
https://nesetweb.eu/en/about-us/policy-themes/vulnerable-groups-in-education-and-training/
https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/small/Bo-Co/Community-Relations.html
https://www.prmrinc.net/blog/how-important-is-community-relations-to-a-company
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

The topic addresses a company’s ability to ensure broad access to education and training in terms of skills, specifically in the context of underserved population groups.

INTRODUCTION:

The intro shall set the stage for the reader:

• Is it about financial literacy? STEM education? Acquiring specific skills for being more productive or being more employable?

• Is it about other types of education and training?

• What is the relevance of this topic?

• What are the positive aspects of it?

• How does access to the specific type of education & training boost one's well-being and access to resources?

THE BODY:

The body shall explore the direct company's action/project/program, delineating:

• Reach (geographical)

• Purpose (who is the beneficiary)

• What has been done - discuss each impactful initiative individually*

• Since when & for how long in certain cases (persistence)

• How many people were actually reached

• Do we have any tangible outcomes? (Ex: reduced poverty in one area, increased employment, etc.)

*Remember to be as granular as possible by focusing on one single issue, one or two projects, or initiatives, and provide as much depth as you can about it with facts and figures.

Avoid analysing peripheral educational and training efforts unrelated to the company's core business activities.

To cover a topic to its fullest potential, it would be ideal for assessing the impact this has had on children, individuals, and other groups as much as possible.

For instance:

• Did they pursue higher education?

• Get employed in relevant fields?

• Were their wages higher than the median income?

• Did their quality of life increase?

• Did they get more access to resources?

• Did they experience more security?

Caution: While researching this topic, please keep in mind the general standards we have set for the broader theme of Philanthropy/Donations if the latter are involved. Please check the standards here.

Threshold: for the impact to be considered significant, the number of people benefiting from education and training must amount to a minimum of 100,000 over the past 2-3 years.

Industry-specific examples: The topic addresses a company's ability to ensure broad access to education and training, specifically in the context of underserved population groups, in terms of -

Financials: skills and financial literacy.

Healthcare: healthcare education(such as STEM and in laboratories) and training by healthcare workers.

Hardware: products sold, like calculators and others, enhancing education and skills. Note that this is from the final products only (not the software).

Software & IT Services: digital skills such as cybersecurity, AI, cloud computing, design thinking, and others.

Internet Media & Services: products and services such as YouTube act as educational and training tools.

Note: this is part of the topic 'Access to (Accurate) Information'

CONCLUSION:

The conclusion shall wrap up the above discussion keeping the most salient information for the reader to correctly grasp the impact.

To describe the scale of the impact, take into account:

1/ The breadth of the impact

• Is the impact local, national, or global?

• How many individuals are affected by this activity?

2/ The depth of the impact

• Is the well-being of the community/people profoundly affected, or does the issue just marginally impact them? How so?

• Are the changes brought by the company profoundly changing society or the planet? How is the group coping with the external impact brought upon them?

3/ The persistence of the impact

• How long would the impact described last for? Months? Years? Decades?

• How reversible is the impact described in the impact analysis? Can it be easily stopped/extended?

Fujifilm provides educational materials for 95,000 kids in low-income countries

Telia helped thousands of people through its initiatives on education, training & digital inclusion