Private Sector’s Role in Education: How NGOs and Businesses Collaborate

India’s education system is one of the largest in the world, serving over 265 million students across nearly 1.5 million schools. Yet behind these staggering numbers lies a persistent crisis – millions of children drop out before finishing school, classrooms in remote regions remain under-resourced, and the quality gap between urban and rural education continues to widen. The government alone cannot close these gaps at the speed and scale that India needs. This is precisely why the private sector – corporations and NGOs – has stepped in as an indispensable partner in the effort to transform Indian education.

The scale of India’s education challenge 🔗

To understand why private involvement matters, it helps to first look at the ground reality. According to government statistics, approximately 12% of students drop out at the secondary level nationally, with states like Odisha recording rates as high as 25.9% and Bihar at 19.5%. Over the last five years, more than 6.5 million children have dropped out of school, including nearly 3 million adolescent girls – a figure disclosed by the Minister of State for Women and Child Development in Parliament.

Infrastructure deficits compound the problem. The Ministry of Education found in a survey that 21% of government-funded schools in rural India lack toilets, and 16% have unhealthy or unsanitary drinking water facilities. Despite notable progress in basic amenities, digital library access reaches only 6.9% of schools, and 33.2% of government schools have disabled-friendly toilets – most of which are non-functional.

The learning crisis runs equally deep. The ASER 2024 report reveals that only 23.4% of Class 3 students in government schools can read a Class 2-level text. The causes are systemic: poverty, child labour, inadequate teacher training, gender inequality, and a curriculum still dominated by rote learning. These challenges make it clear that public funding and government programmes alone – while necessary – are not sufficient.

Why the private sector gets involved 🔗

Private sector involvement in education takes two primary forms: corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives by businesses, and the on-the-ground implementation work carried out by NGOs. These two modes of engagement are deeply interconnected – companies typically fund or initiate programmes, while NGOs deploy the community networks and local expertise needed to make them work.

NGOs have a deep understanding of grassroots education challenges, which makes them ideal partners for designing programmes that actually respond to community needs – something large-scale government systems often struggle to do with speed or flexibility. As UNESCO has noted, education for sustainable development requires the full involvement of multiple educational organisations and civil society groups, including NGOs.

In India, the Companies Act of 2013 mandates that companies above a certain turnover or net worth allocate a portion of profits to CSR activities. Many have chosen education as a key focus area, recognising that investing in learning is both a social obligation and a strategic contribution to building a future workforce. This legislative push has turned CSR from an optional gesture into a structured mechanism for private-sector participation in national development goals.

Corporate social responsibility in education: Key examples 🔗

Wipro’s Applying Thought in Schools (WATS) 🔗

Azim Premji’s approach to corporate social responsibility has deeply shaped Wipro’s practices, and the company’s flagship education initiative – the Wipro Applying Thought in Schools (WATS) programme – is a direct expression of that philosophy. WATS focuses on improving quality in government schools, particularly in rural areas, by training teachers in innovative methods that encourage critical thinking over rote learning. Rather than simply building infrastructure, it targets the root of poor learning outcomes: pedagogy itself.

Infosys Foundation’s rural school programme 🔗

Infosys Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Infosys, has partnered with various state governments and NGOs to expand education access in remote and underserved regions. One of its most notable projects is the Infosys Foundation Rural School Programme, which focuses on building and renovating schools and improving infrastructure – addressing the physical conditions that drive dropout rates in the first place. By combining financial resources with NGO implementation networks, Infosys has been able to operate where government reach is limited.

IBM’s KidSmart Early Learning Programme 🔗

IBM’s contribution offers a compelling model of how technology companies can reshape early childhood education. The IBM KidSmart Early Learning Programme deploys child-friendly computers loaded with educational software in primary and pre-school settings. Implemented in collaboration with NGOs like SRF Foundation, the programme provides students in government primary schools with computer-aided learning that integrates reading with cognitive, physical, and creative aspects of development.

The programme deploys the latest hardware, software, and educational material at the primary level and is aimed at pre-school centres and primary schools. By partnering with foundations and corporate intermediaries across multiple Indian states, IBM has been able to bring technology-assisted learning to children who would otherwise have no exposure to computers at all.

The Azim Premji Foundation: A model of sustained commitment 🔗

Perhaps no example better illustrates the transformative potential of private initiative in Indian education than the Azim Premji Foundation. Founded in 2001 by Wipro’s chairman Azim Premji, the Foundation was built around a singular conviction: improving the public school system – not creating parallel elite institutions – is the most meaningful path to educational equity.

In December 2010, Premji pledged US$2 billion for improving school education in India, and subsequent donations have taken his total philanthropic commitment to the Foundation to over US$21 billion – making him the largest individual philanthropist in India. The Foundation has impacted over 3,50,000 schools through teacher training and curriculum development, with 270 Teacher Learning Centres empowering educators across the country.

The Foundation works closely with state governments and institutions like the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) and State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT) to build teacher capacity, support curriculum development, and influence education policy – and it does this across 17 states, not just where it has a direct field presence. Its field institutes operate in some of the most disadvantaged districts of the country, focusing on the educators who directly shape children’s learning.

More recently, the Foundation announced scholarships for 2.5 lakh girls across 18 states for the 2025-26 academic year, specifically targeting the financial and social hurdles that prevent girls from accessing higher education in underserved regions.

How NGOs bridge the gap between policy and practice 🔗

Beyond individual corporate initiatives, NGOs serve as the critical last-mile link between funding, policy, and actual classroom impact. Organisations like Pratham identify specific learning gaps and design context-based solutions for children across the educational spectrum – from early childhood to upper primary. Their Teaching at the Right Level methodology, developed in India, has now been adopted in countries across Africa.

Project Nanhi Kali, the flagship programme of K.C. Mahindra Education Trust, has supported the education of over 4.5 lakh underprivileged girls since 1996, focusing specifically on girls from socially and economically marginalised families who face the highest dropout risk. Sightsavers India has partnered with state governments in Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, and Odisha to deliver quality education to children with visual impairment, providing assistive devices to approximately 4,000 children and training over 58,000 teachers in inclusive practices.

NGO education projects simplify the process of investing in, managing, and tracking programme outcomes in ways that a purely bureaucratic structure cannot. They provide continuous monitoring, on-site support, teacher mentoring, and community engagement – all of which are essential for ensuring that a programme survives beyond its initial implementation phase.

Challenges that limit private sector impact 🔗

Despite significant achievements, private-sector involvement in Indian education faces real structural challenges. Sustainability is perhaps the most pressing concern. Many programmes are short-term, with funding tied to specific projects or corporate priorities. Once the funding ends, the programmes often struggle to continue, leaving schools and communities without long-term support.

Scalability is another persistent hurdle. What works effectively in one district may fail in another due to differences in language, culture, infrastructure, and community dynamics. NGOs suffer from difficulties such as funding constraints, inadequate infrastructure, and a shortage of competent teachers – the very problems they are trying to solve in communities around them.

There is also the risk of inequity. Private institutions and initiatives, while often offering better resources, may inadvertently deepen the divide between well-served urban schools and poorly resourced rural ones if not deliberately designed for inclusion and equity. Without intentional design and government coordination, CSR investment can cluster around easier-to-reach populations rather than the most marginalised.

The path forward: Collaboration as a system 🔗

The evidence from India’s most successful initiatives points clearly in one direction: sustained, coordinated collaboration between government, businesses, and NGOs outperforms any single actor working alone. Government initiatives are designed for universal scale and mandate, while NGOs specialise in localised, flexible, and innovative programme delivery – adapting pedagogy, filling gaps in remedial education, and focusing on quality and equity aspects that are harder to manage in a massive government system.

Government schemes like Samagra Shiksha and the Right to Education Act have created the foundation for enrolment. What private initiatives – backed by CSR funding and NGO expertise – can do is take that enrolled child and ensure they actually learn, stay in school, and have access to the opportunities they deserve. The goal is not to replace the public system, but to strengthen and extend it.

What do you think? Given that India’s secondary dropout rate still stands at over 12% nationally, do you believe CSR mandates under the Companies Act are doing enough to channel corporate resources toward the students who need it most? And how can NGOs working in education be better supported to scale their programmes beyond isolated pockets of success to achieve truly systemic change?

References

1. https://indiadatamap.com/2025/08/28/indias-2025-school-dropout-rates-state-wise-analysis/
2. https://newsmeter.in/interviews/indias-school-dropout-crisis-765430
3. https://iisppr.org.in/student-dropout-rate-in-rural-india/
4. https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/state-of-school-education-in-india
5. https://www.idreameducation.org/blog/ngos-working-for-education/
6. https://www.sightsaversindia.org/blogs/2018/10/ngos-education-government-partnership-crucial-quality-education/
7. https://thecsruniverse.com/articles/azim-premji-foundation-to-support-2-5-lakh-girls-with-higher-education-scholarships-across-18-states
8. https://smileymovement.org/news/azim-premji-good-schooling-is-the-first-step-towards-social-change
9. https://bgfoundation.com/ngo-partnerships-are-transforming-education-in-india
10. https://www.srf-foundation.org/our-reach/educational-programs-2/educational-programs-2-2/ibm-kidsmart-early-learning-program/
11. https://digitallearning.eletsonline.com/2007/05/satyam-ibm-to-set-up-kidsmart-centres-in-hyderabad-india/
12. https://azimpremjifoundation.org/what-we-do/education/
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azim_Premji
14. https://thelogicalindian.com/nation-builder-azim-premji-foundation-transforming-public-education-and-healthcare-to-empower-marginalized-communities/
15. https://www.pratham.org/
16. https://give.do/blog/top-10-education-ngos-rejuvenating-education-in-india/
17. https://www.idreameducation.org/blog/ngo-education-projects/
18. https://educationforallinindia.com/dropout-rates-in-schools-in-india/