MYTILINEOS: “I’M IN” Program for School Dropout achieves high social value

από | 12/10/2018 | ESG/Sustainability

The third season of the MYTILINEOS pilot social program “I’M IN”, implemented since 2016 in collaboration with the Greek Association “Together for Children”, reached its conclusion. The program’s mission is to address School Dropout, taking into account the very needs of the modern school community. 

The “I’M IN” program embraced children from vulnerable social groups, particularly students of the 2nd and 3rd grades of secondary education in the 7th school district of Athens Municipality, which recorded high dropout rates due to financial and family issues. The challenge was to ensure that those children would remain within the school environment. Therefore, the program included, on a daily basis, supplementary teaching, psychological support and provision of a healthy meal, thus giving children the possibility and opportunity to claim a better future.

Upon completion of the program, MYTILINEOS identified and analyzed the program’s social value, using the Social Return On Investment (SROI) methodology, systematically used by the company for the assessment of its CSR programs; this methodology represents a pioneering and groundbreaking practice in the industry. According to the analysis, the overall “I’M IN” program investment generated a social value of € 768,193.18, with a SROI ratio equal to 4.75:1. This means that for each euro invested in the program the social value produced was 4.75 euros. 

This social value, as from the first year of program implementation to date, is allocated as follows: 
(a) most of the social value (44.22%) was generated for the children – beneficiaries of the program. The most important changes they experienced were the following: (a) improvement of their performance at school; (b) change in their behavior and way of thinking; and (c) significant improvement of their mental state, as social acceptance was boosted and their creativity was highly developed;

(b) a significant social value rate (31.73%) was generated for children’s families, a particularly encouraging development, as it demonstrated the activation’s pluralistic structure. The parents now claim that their psychological balance has improved, while they also received important financial aid for food, in the program’s context;

(c) 10.80% of the social value was generated by teachers and psychologists who participated in the initiative, as their way of thinking and behavior changed, they felt high moral and work satisfaction and currently appear to be more efficient, as a result of their experience; 

(d) finally, a 10% of the social value was generated by those who worked for the initiative, advocating in favor of the professional experience acquired, pointing out the development of social and professional skills, and stating that their participation has raised their social awareness. 

In a nutshell, the program’s most significant achievements over the period 2016- 2018 were as follows: 
✓ 90% of the students participated in the program successfully completed their basic education and continue pursuing their studies in high school, which was the program’s main objective. 
✓ 56 students of the 2nd and 3rd grades of secondary education took part in the program. 
✓16 new jobs were created, while 15 individuals from 4 different social organizations were employed for the program’s management. 
✓ 6,800 healthy meals were provided to all students. 
✓ 1,358 hours of supplementary teaching programs. 
✓ 127 hours of experiential activities. 
✓ More than 400 hours of psychological intervention to students and counselling by school psychology experts to the program’s participating teachers. 
✓ 4 families (of children who took part in the program) were included every year in a 6-month program of free meals.