a. Ncell Scholarships and Excellence Awards to outstanding students
Ncell has been conferring Ncell Scholarships and Excellence Awards to the outstanding students of the Institute of Engineering (IoE), Pulchowk Campus since 2014. In 2019, we entered into an extended collaboration with the Pulchowk Campus to give continuity to the coveted ‘Ncell Scholarships and Excellence Awards’ programme for the next 5 years, incorporating two more engineering faculties under this initiative.

The Ncell Scholarships aims to promote the best and brightest minds, whereas Ncell Excellence Awards aim to recognize and felicitate the academic achievers. Both scholarships and excellence awards carry a purse of Rs. 100,000 each. Under the Ncell Scholarships and Excellence Awards programme, Ncell has agreed to provide scholarships and excellence awards worth Rs. 13 million to top-scoring students for the next five years (2019-2023).

Under this initiative, 18 Ncell Scholarships are conferred to the topper students of BE Electrical, Electronics, and Communication, Computer, Civil and Mechanical engineering each year. Similarly, 6 students who graduate from these five faculties securing the highest marks receive Ncell Excellence Awards every year.

Ncell Scholarships are provided based on annual scores of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year and students receive it for studying in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year, respectively. The 18 scholarship receivers include 3 toppers of 1st year, 2nd year, and 3rd year from Electrical, Electronics, and Communication, Computer, Civil, and Mechanical faculty and 3 female toppers from 1st year, 2nd year, and 3rd year among all female students of these five faculties.

Ncell Excellence Awards, on the other hand, are given to the students graduating with top scores from each of these five faculties and to a female student graduating with top scores among all female students of the five faculties. Both scholarships and excellence awards are worth Rs. 100,000 each.

b. Modern Digital Labs in 60 Government Schools
We in collaboration with the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology are setting up a modern digital lab in 60 community schools across the country to contribute towards the government vision of ‘Digital Nepal’ by enabling government/community-run schools to be equipped with hi-tech digital IT lab for enhancing the quality of education. Under this collaboration, 60 modern IT Labs (one modern computer lab in each 60 community schools in various parts of the country) will be established benefiting over 30,000 students and their schools for increasing digital literacy.

c. Nurturing Technopreneurship
Nurturing technology entrepreneurship among digital talent remains one of the CSR priorities for Ncell. Under this initiative, Ncell joined hands with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the world’s leading university based in the USA, and Kathmandu University of Nepal to organize MIT Global Startup Labs (GSL) programme for the first time in Nepal. The MIT GSL was implemented in a format of boot camp and 35 students of Kathmandu University participated in the program which was implemented through June 15-August 2.

During the programme, the 35 students formed 9 teams and worked on their respective startup ideas. The teams are taught by 4 MIT instructors based on MIT’s unique approach. The participants learned detailed technical curriculum, market research, team development, business model execution, and idea pitching, among others. They received hands-on learning also from guest lectures and participated in networking events, which enabled them to realize the commercial possibilities of technology and learn what it means to be an entrepreneur.

At the end of the program, that is on August 2, Demo Day was organized to provide the students with an opportunity to showcase their innovations, demonstrate public speaking, and inspire startup culture in Nepal. On the day, the teams pitched their ideas and business plans, and also showcased their working prototypes to a panel of judges and other attendees, including entrepreneurs, business leaders, academic officials, and potential investors. The panel of judges chose SajiloMarmatSewa followed by Kinder and Opus as the top three startup ideas of the program. Each of the three teams has been awarded an opportunity to participate in the Micro Master Course (MMC) online course of MIT and also received a seed fund of Rs 500,000, Rs 300,000, and Rs 200,000 respectively from Ncell. Likewise, they have also been rewarded with space and mentorship facility at Kathmandu University School of Management (KUSOM) Incubation Center. Members of other teams have also been awarded an opportunity to receive a certificate course from MIT EdX.

d. Ncell App Camp
Ncell in 2014 started Ncell App Camp, a mobile app development competition for young developers and mobile enthusiasts, aiming to unleash the country's digital potential and inspire youths to build innovative businesses.

Designed for potential App developers, Ncell App Camp included educational sessions in which experts guided developers on app idea, app development, business modelling and marketing, among others. Winners were awarded cash prizes and the grand prize winner received the opportunity to participate in similar international events.

In 2015, the competition was opened under 4 categories: i. Games and Entertainment, ii. Health, iii. Tourism and iv. Utilities. 728 mobile app ideas have been received; selection of 150 best ideas is underway.

In 2014, competition was held under 4 categories: i. Agriculture, ii. Corporate Solutions, iii. Education and iv. Tourism. 457 mobile app ideas were received; 150 teams with the best ideas were selected for training seminars and competition.

e. Promoting Quality Education
In 2019, we collaborated with the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (MoEST) and RatoBangala Foundation (RBF) for organizing an International Conference on quality education that was themed as ‘promoting quality education from early childhood. The programme aimed to empower education from the roots by delivering special skills, knowledge, and expertise within the education sector to help empower in aspects such as skills training, enhancing early-childhood education, and knowledge sharing with those involved in the education sector at large.

The much anticipated, second session of the International Conference on Quality Education was held from August 24-26, 2019. The conference witnessed the participation of officials from the government as well as district-level, teachers, and national and international researchers and speakers. The conference featured more than 75 expert-led presentations, 60 workshops, 14 parallel sessions over the three days, focusing around the theme ‘learning by doing approach on early-childhood development model.’

The conference shared local and global experiences on quality education, showcased best education practices (national and international), and provided suggestions for SSDP and implementation of its reform agenda. It also developed a network of stakeholders engaged in achieving quality education and provided recommendations for the roles of those stakeholders to enhance quality education. Ultimately, the conference created criteria for bringing a high standard to early childhood education. The participants took back new skills and methods in education while the presenters were given a platform to share their knowledge and expertise with the participants.

Over 700 participants, including more than 300 government-level teachers from 55 districts, attended the three-day conference. Experts from Singapore, the United States, India, China, and Bangladesh participated in the conference as trainers. We under our corporate social responsibility supported the enrollment of 300 government school teachers from across the country.

f. Digital library
Traditional teaching methodology still prevails in Nepal. Although some schools in urban areas have adapted to modern teaching techniques, schools in rural areas have not been able to do so because of financial constraints. Most schools do not even have a library to enable students to get knowledge other than that of course books. Those with libraries are not able to update and manage them either. So far, we have installed a digital library in 16 schools in 14 districts since 2011.

g. Ncell scholarship to the girl child
Due to the poor financial condition of the family and orthodox thinking that a girl child does not need education, many deserving girl students from rural areas do not get a chance to pursue higher education. The scenario in rural Nepal was such that there remained a was sharp increase in dropout rates of girl students after secondary level. l. As a part of our social initiative to support in the continued education of girls from needy families, Ncell in collaboration with Save the Children started Ncell Scholarships to girl child in 2011. Under this initiative, scholarships were provided to needy girl students to pursue higher education up to the bachelors’ level.

h. Adopt a School
Though education is basic children's right, many children in rural areas of Nepal are deprived of it due to the lack of proper school infrastructure. Considering this ground reality, Ncell implemented the ‘Adopt a School’ programme in 2011 under which we adopted rural community-run schools having a large number of students but failing to deliver due to service owing to lack of classrooms, education materials, and other basic facilities. Ncell supported them to do away with their deficiencies by providing basic infrastructures, such as classarooms, libraries, toilets, drinking water, and educational materials. From 2011 till 2014, we had adopted 45 schools across 37 districts.