The original Greek definition of the word ‘philanthropy’ is love for humankind. While India has had a rich tradition of philanthropy over centuries, one rarely hears people speak in ways that truly reflect this meaning today. The Indian social sector is growing at a commendable pace both in terms of quantity of philanthropic funds for solving social issues and the impact of social purpose organisations. At this critical juncture, it is important to remind ourselves of the sector’s primary mandate, which is love of humanity, and reflect on our own actions in the pursuit of equity and inclusive development for all.
When it comes to students, the role of educational institutions is to develop the feeling of being fair, humane and equitable and educate our youth to be compassionate, embrace risk, learn from failure, and maintain mental well-being in uncertain times. We must focus on teaching them how to navigate through prevailing uncertainties and to make a positive impact on both people and the planet. They should be equipped with the knowledge and tools to tackle social issues with courageous solutions.
What can be done
Provide knowledge: Students can be introduced to the history of philanthropy and how it has shaped humanity over the years. This can be done through textbooks, visual aids and stories and through initiatives that establish standards and benchmarks to teach young people about philanthropy and promote service.
Teach social entrepreneurship: Many institutions include entrepreneurship in the curriculum to support employment and growth, but few emphasise social entrepreneurship for socio-economic impact. One reason is the lack of emphasis on social awareness in education. By incorporating it into the curriculum, institution can encourage students to challenge norms and find solutions to social problems.
Training and exposure:NGO visits are often limited to social work or extracurricular activities, rather than being included as an integral part of education. They can create a deeper sense of ownership, involvement and responsibility towards social problems by providing more direct exposure and opportunities to apply classroom concepts to grassroots level experiences. They can also initiate practical sessions and classes that expose students to society, and work being done by individuals and organisations in various parts of the country.
Provide inspiration: There is a need to recognise that philanthropy is not just what rich people do, but what each citizen can do. Educational institutions can help build this awareness through diverse stories of giving and organise sessions where guest speakers share their experiences in the social impact space.
Encourage peer learning: Educational institutions can create initiatives that encourage students to pick a social problem they care about, share their ideas with an audience, and work on pitching a potential solution with support from mentors. Encouraging workshops and labs dedicated to design thinking, innovation and systems thinking will help them explore innovative solutions to complex social problems. Creating and involving students in hyper-local philanthropy days and events organised by themselves are also ways to build an understanding of philanthropy.
Reinvent the teacher’s role: Today, when we can access information easily, the teacher’s role can be redefined to becoming mentors for students, coaching them with necessary life skills and supporting them in becoming responsible citizens.
India has the world’s largest child population (around 400 million). Imagine the potential impact if even just 5% choose social impact as a career. Domestic Indian philanthropy is rising, powered by old business families, first-generation wealth creators and corporates. Educational institutions have huge opportunities to nurture the next generation of social scientists, policy makers, civil servants, business leaders, social entrepreneurs, and professionals who prioritise social change. We will need to build an ecosystem to support the study of philanthropy and its impact: textbooks, audio-visual aids, faculty, syllabus, assessment methods, credits/grades, and so on. For social change to happen on a wide scale, we need to ensure that this ecosystem is accessible to people from all backgrounds and sections of society.
Ravi Sreedharan is Founder and President, Indian School of Development Management (ISDM). Urvi Shriram leads the Centre for Philanthropy for Inclusive Development (CPID) at ISDM.
