Youth Education

In addition to financial education for youth, Citi Asia Pacific provides funding and volunteer support for educational initiatives that help young people develop the skills to be successful in the workplace, contribute to the economy, and lead more productive lives.

The Citi Foundation’s youth education priorities are:

Increasing access to primary and secondary education in countries where this is a critical barrier to future academic and economic success

Supporting innovative teaching strategies that increase student achievement with a focus on improving basic literacy levels

Preparing students for post-secondary education and careers by supporting programmes that build both academic and workplace skills

Improving access to higher education for low-income university and graduate school students through innovative scholarship programmes

Building the next generation of financial services industry leaders by enhancing the educational experience of undergraduate and graduate business students

In 2008, Citi Asia Pacific supported youth education in almost every market in the region with over US$3 million in grants and donations, plus employee volunteerism

Basic Education for 67,000 Urban Slum Children

In India, there are around 200 million children who should be in primary or secondary school. However, estimates in the Annual Status of Education Report 2006 painted a disturbing picture:

7% of children aged 6-14, and 21% of children aged 15-16 were not enrolled in school

Of those in schools, 114 million children could not read a short story and 124 million could not do simple division

To help tackle this vast problem, Citi began a long-term partnership with Pratham, one of the country’s largest NGOs that strives to ensure universal primary education. A three-year Citi Foundation grant contributed to the basic education of over 67,000 children in 350 urban slum communities in Bhopal, Delhi, Jaipur, Lucknow, Pune, Surat and Vizag, and thousands more benefited indirectly.

Thousands of slum children in India like this boy, aged 5, in Bhopal have started to learn to read, write and do basic math through Pratham’s balwadi (pre-school) programmes funded by the Citi Foundation.

By September 2008, achievements across the seven cities included:

Average 15% increase in pre-school enrolments (aged 3-5)

Minimum 10% point increase – and in most cases a 40-50% point increase – in the learning levels of 67,000 children (aged 6-16) who attended Pratham classes

Approximately 7,000 children were mainstreamed into government schools

199,000 children borrowed books from Pratham libraries

Each year, approximately 150 Citi India employee volunteers support Pratham by helping to conduct story telling sessions, art competitions, and interactive science and math education.

Given the significant results and engagement, the Citi Foundation has committed a second three-year grant for Pratham to reach 145,000 children, and introduce higher competency learning such as English, Science and advanced Math.