That difference now has a name. It’s called Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), when big corporations strive not only to make big profits but also to be channels of social change, giving back to the workforce, customers and communities via worthwhile projects.

While some focus their CSR initiatives on the environment, entrepreneurship, livelihood and skills training, there are those that invest in young people, particularly in education initiatives to indigent students who face the severe disadvantage of shortage in school buildings, trained teachers, books and other equipment.

The promise of basic education

Answering the call of communities and government for private sector assistance, the Coca-Cola Foundation launched the Little Red Schoolhouse project in 1997 to help improve primary education in the country’s isolated and impoverished areas. To date, the project has worked with 70 rural communities to construct multi-grade elementary schools with electricity, running water, furniture and other essentials.

"More than just building schools, the project also helps build the capacity of teachers, parents and communities to educate their children," explains Cecile Alcantara, president of Coca-Cola Foundation.

Teachers receive training on the special skills needed for classroom settings including the Little Red Read-A-Thon program conducted in partnership with Sa Aklat Sisikat (SAS) Foundation, while parent-teacher-community associations (PTCA) are empowered to maintain the schools through workshops and technical assistance.

The John Gokongwei (JG) Summit, on the other hand, supplements basic education by putting up The Children’s Library (TCL), the first public library funded by a private organization started in 2000.

A joint project with Robinsons Malls, The Children’s Library is an interactive learning and entertainment venue that makes books, multi-media equipment and educational activities available in various public libraries in Metro Manila.

Aside from facilities in Robinsons Novaliches and Robinsons Imus, TCL has expanded its reach to accommodate more public school children with its TCL Corners in San Juan Public Library and the Pasig Public Library.

"JG Summit and TCL are continuously working towards a future where multi-media resource centers are available to every child and where communities contribute to the total development of the Filipino youth," says Nic Lim, SVP for JG Summit Holding, HRD.

Education strengthened by technology

The popularity of mobile phones and the Internet has paved the way for a whole new learning experience for students. Now, those who reside even in the remotest barangays in the country may access a library of educational materials with the click of a button.

Globe Telecom’s CSR program - the Globe Bridging Communities (Globe BridgeCom) - supports and improves its education initiatives by harnessing mobile and information technology.

In 2002, the telecom giant made used of its strengths to educate the youth. Organizations such as Nokia Philippines, Ayala Foundation, the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization-Innotech (SEAMEO-Innotech) and Globe have banded together to enrich education in public schools through texting.

"We developed Text2Teach, a program wherein teachers and students in public elementary schools can access links that contain information on a specific subject matter simply by texting," explains Jeffrey Ochoa Tarayao, head, Globe CSR Community Relations.

The program enables teachers and students to access more than 900 multimedia educational materials like video, pictures, text and audio files by requesting them via text.

With mobile phones and monthly prepaid load allowance supplied by Nokia and Globe, affiliated public schools are able to access a library of Science, English, Math and Values Education three-minute videos provided by Pearson and SEAMEO-Innotech.

"Each video is supported by targeted lesson plans that integrate supporting exercises and activities already linked to the curriculum," notes Tarayao.

Since the downloading of information is tagged to a certain media box, teachers and students from nearby schools are welcome to visit Text2Teach affiliate schools to experience for themselves this education breakthrough. To date, more than 900,000 students from 204 public elementary schools benefit from the program.

Globe has announced that the Text2Teach program will be made available to 500 additional schools in the next three years.

High school students, on the other hand, aren’t left out with Globe’s Gearing Up Internet Literacy and Access for Students (GILAS) program.

GILAS is a central consortium which aims to connect all public schools to the Internet by 2011. At present, about 1,600 schools are connected to the Internet through GILAS. Almost 39 percent or 850 schools are connected via Globe Broadband and Wireless Broadband.

"The Internet service is free of charge during the first year of usage. On its second year, the schools are required to pay half of the bill, and the full amount for the succeeding years. That’s the most realistic way to sustain the program," Tarayao explains.

ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp., on the other hand, launched its E-Media program and the Knowledge Channel Foundation, Inc. (KCFI).

"E-Media and the Knowledge Channel push for equal educational for all via E-TV or educational TV," explains Dulce Festin-Baybay, chairman, LCF communications committee, and media relations head, Lopez Group Foundation.

KCFI installs satellite infrastructure and cable TV facilities to provide educational TV materials to help improve the academic performance of the students in major subjects such as English, Math and Science.

"We want to build a nation through education by reaching millions via instructive TV programming," Baybay stresses.

Training future leaders

Amazed at the remarkable transformation China has undergone in the past 20 years, and how it has risen to become an economic powerhouse, entrepreneur John Gokongwei, through the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation (GBF), granted 34 young Filipinos with full year-long scholarships to the Beijing Language and Culture University in Beijing, China, in 2007.

These scholars studied Mandarin and Chinese culture in the hopes of strengthening the Philippines’ global competitiveness by application of knowledge in their home country.

"By doing that, we hope to uplift the country’s economy by adapting what our scholars have learned from China," Gokongwei enthuses.

Borne of JG Summit’s commitment to social responsibility, the GBF was set up in 1992 to help uplift the socio-economic conditions of Filipinos through the funding of educational projects. The first of these was the Technical Training Center for skilled graduates in various engineering fields. An endowment by the foundation to the Ateneo de Manila University then led to the John Gokongwei School of Management or JGSOM.

"The foundation aggressively donated facilities and scholarships, and supported educational programs to help train our next generation of business and government leaders," explains Nic Lim, SVP for JG Summing Holding.

With the belief that knowledge is the most important currency today, these top corporations are doing their share in shaping the youth’s future through their laudable CSR projects. With the time, money, effort and commitment that have been massively poured into these initiatives, people should be more than convinced that helping has become much, much more than just a corporate gimmick.