Atlas, the nation’s most loved stationery and learning brand, was honoured with the ‘CSR Brand of the Year’ Bronze award at the SLIM Brand Excellence Awards 2021 held on February 9, 2022. The company reaffirmed its position as a socially responsible corporate citizen by winning the award for the second consecutive year for their purpose led initiatives.
The organisation was recognised for its significant endeavours in creating equal learning opportunities of over 480,000 children for the financial year 2021 amidst the pandemic, where education had come to a standstill. Soon after identifying various obstacles faced by parents to keep children engaged at home, and teachers having to adapt to new ways of teaching with limited resources, Atlas altered its strategy and kickstarted initiatives to help overcome these challenges by collaborating with educators, the Ministry of Education, and other authorities.
“It is imperative that every child has the right to a quality education and so we are overjoyed to have impacted over 480,000 children, 3,500 teachers, and 175,000 parents by adding value and purpose to education. Most importantly, we helped children smoothly advance through their grades during these trying times but our efforts won’t stop here. We have utilized technology to reach wider stakeholders in an isolation environment and continue to make learning fun, productive and accessible for every child across Sri Lanka,” said Asitha Samaraweera, Managing Director, Atlas Axillia Co. Ltd.
During the past year, Atlas successfully completed various initiatives including comprehensive teacher engagements to support the timely adaptation of online teaching through techniques to make learning interactive and effective in a virtual setting. The company also undertook to provide free online learning content, specially to support grade 5 scholarship students and creative activities such as ‘Learn Creative Skills with MyCrafts’ to keep children engaged during lockdown. Additionally, Atlas partnered with the Ministry of Education to implement the ‘Safety in Back-to-School’ Programme to ensure safety protocols were in place when schools re-opened.
“It is an honour to win the CSR Brand of the Year award, and we are grateful to SLIM for the recognition. Receiving this title would not only set the bar for Atlas in terms of brand performance, but it will also validate the brand’s efforts in helping the country and its children. We are proud to be a brand that is precious to the hearts of millions of Sri Lankan children, an essential component of school life, and a helpful companion at every stage of their learning journey,” added Samaraweera.