November 17 marks a worldwide observance of International Students’ Day, an event that celebrates the student community: its multiculturism, its victories, and diversity. More importantly, International Students’ Day highlights the ongoing fight for the right to an education—it focuses on ensuring that every student all over the world has access to education, paving the way to a brighter future.

Building Blocks of the Future

As a company committed to building a better world for all, Teleperformance is committed in taking action so that education can be accessed by all, regardless of gender, race, origin, age, or beliefs. Through our Citizen of the World (COTW) initiatives, we continue to promote learning opportunities and provide quality education to those in need. This year, our COTW initiatives made a lasting impact on our local communities in several countries worldwide like India, USA, and Portugal.

Through our COTW schools in India, we continuously aim to ensure inclusive and equitable education for all. As a result:

Partnering with local NGOs, Teleperformance also supported the education of students across different cities in the country, making the right to an education a reality to children with different needs:

• Literacy India, Gurgaon: supporting the education of 300 children
• Navyug Aarambh, Indore: supporting the education of 260 children
• SOS Children’s Village, Bangalore: supporting the education of 30 children
• Udaan Foundation, Mumbai: supporting the education of 550 children
• Sakhi Bal Niketan, Jaipur: supporting the education of 160 children
• Society for the Care of the Blind, Mohali: supporting the education of 152 blind students
• Literacy India, Kolkata: supporting the education of 160 students
  
  

In the USA, Teleperformance teams made lunch bags for an amazing program called "Kidz Meals." Their mission is to end childhood hunger by delivering free and healthy meals to the doorsteps of Houston’s hungriest preschool-aged children. The collaboration provided families with resources to help end the cycle of poverty. Teleperformance employees sent words of encouragement to the children who received school meals. To help put smiles on kids' faces, Teleperformance partnered with the Alan Truitt Force of Good and Harker Heights Elementary to collect and donate school supplies. Our teams also wrote uplifting notes and shared them to West Elementary School's teachers, so they can give the notes to students who need kudos for a job well done.

Teleperformance in Portugal understands that playing is a fundamental part of the learning process. For its COTW initiative, our teams in Portugal did a makeover to the children’s playground at Casa de Santo António, an institution dedicated to help teen mothers and their children. The playing area was remodeled and the children were also presented with a new slide and a playhouse.

Learning about the origins of International Students’ Day, observed since 1941, allows us to pay homage to the fallen students who rejected inequalities in the face of oppression. Its history, sadly, continues to slightly resonate even today—at present, inequalities are still evident, and in some parts of the world, education isn’t treated as a basic human right.

Teleperformance believes that to live is to learn, and knowledge is indeed power. Students are the building blocks towards a brighter future, and we all should take part in ensuring that education can be accessed by everyone. On November 17, we join the world in celebrating International Students’ Day.