Joint project by Metso and Plan International promotes education for girls in India

HELSINKI, Finland, Dec. 21, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The children's development organization Plan International and Metso are expanding their collaboration to help children in developing countries. Girls in particular will benefit from the school project.

The new, four-year project in the Alwar region in North India is a continuation of the school project to make quality education available to also the most marginalized children. The first phase of the project encompassed 15 schools and benefited 3,000 students and 90 teachers. Now the project is expanding to a total of 25 schools.

The schools participating in the project will receive proper teaching facilities, and the teachers will receive training to ensure quality teaching. To improve learning outcomes, science and math classrooms will be established. Modern information technology will be used in teaching, and the schools will also have libraries.

Metso and Plan's joint project will also improve the water and sanitation services at the schools and increase student awareness of hygiene. In addition to contributing to better health, having clean drinking water and proper lavatories will make the school environment more enjoyable and improve student safety, particularly for girls.

The goal of the school project is to improve the learning outcomes of the children and, as a result, increase the number of students advancing from primary school to secondary school. Over a four-year period, the project will reach about 8,000 girls and boys in 25 schools.

"The school project in India is a good example of how companies investing in children's education can support the long-term development of local communities and engage in a dialogue with them. Long-term partnerships help all parties to get more out of the collaboration, and companies see the tangible impacts of the development collaboration also in their own operating environment over the long term," says Niina Mikolanniemi, Senior Corporate Partnership Manager, Plan International Finland.

"Metso sees the participation in the supporting of the development of local communities as a part of a global company's operations. By partnering with Plan International, we can promote the wellbeing of people locally in India and involve our employees in a good project. We are proud that we can continue our long corporate partnership with Plan," says Kaisa Jungman, Head of Sustainability, Metso. 

Plan International is one of the world's oldest and largest children's development organizations. With no political or religious affiliation, Plan improves and protects the lives of children in 70 developing countries.

Metso is the world's leading industrial company in the mining and aggregates industries and in the flow control business. Our knowledge, people and solutions help drive sustainable improvements in performance and profitability in our customers' businesses.

Metso has an uncompromising attitude towards safety. Our products range from mining and construction equipment and systems to industrial valves and controls. Our solutions are delivered and supported by decades of process knowledge and a broad scope of services backed by a global footprint of over 90 service centers, thousands of service employees, and an extensive logistics network.

Metso is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki, Finland. In 2014, Metso's net sales totaled EUR 3.7 billion. Metso employs approximately 13,000 industry experts in more than 50 countries. Expect results.

www.metso.com , www.twitter.com/metsogroup  

For further information, please contact:

Niina Mikolanniemi, Senior Corporate Partnership Manager, Plan International Finland
tel. + 358 40 761 1677 [email protected]

Kaisa Jungman, Head of Sustainability, Metso Corporation
tel. +358 50 4924058, [email protected]

Helena Marjaranta, Vice President, Global Communications, Metso Corporation, tel. +358 20 484 3212, email: [email protected]

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