Children in Poverty at a Crossroads : Impact Assessment of Panasonic Corporation’s CSR Initiative to Provide Solar Lighting to Children in Rural India

Education is commonly described as the process by which society transmits its cultural heritage, knowledge, values and skills from one generation to another. It is for this reason that inequality in education is a clear obstacle to imparting knowledge and inculcating new ideas. In response to the dilemma of education inequality, international NGOs ― working in cooperation with private sector companies ― have taken steps to propose a vast array of solutions to improve child education amongst the “poorest of the poor”.The purpose of this empirical research is to assess key socioeconomic, education and cultural shifts after solar lighting was provided to approximately 200 children living in rural India during the 2014-2017 period. The key working hypotheses of this study is that solar lighting will have a direct, positive impact ― particularly in the socioeconomic areas of child education, income generation, and employment.The researcher developed an impact assessment survey and carried our qualitative field research interviews that allowed for an evaluation of various socioeconomic changes and cultural shifts, against key baseline data. Through this study, the researcher sought to answer the following key questions: 1） What socioeconomic changes occurred as a result of solar lighting use at the household level? 2） What is the impact of solar lighting on child education, both in terms of daily study hours and academic performance? 3） What cultural shifts took place as a result of solar use in the areas of family socialization, gender equality and environmental awareness? 4） How has energy saving ― as a result of solar use ― improved the three dimensions of the Human Development Index （HDI）, including Life Expectancy, Education and Standard of Living