Isha Vidhya Isha Vidhya Educating Rural IndiaEducating Rural India

India’s rural masses have the potential to contribute and share in the growth of this country; the key is education.

Rural Education Challenge

• 90% of India’s 250 million children do not have access to quality education, or education at all.

• High dropouts in Government schools

• Poor employability of graduating students

Education is the only ladder we can provide to help India’s rural population come out of their hopeless situation- Sadhguru

Our main Challenge• Need to Empower rural children while preserving the identity and

culture of the rural community they live in

Isha Vidhya – Mission

Mission: to achieve the economic and social empowerment of the rural child, and thus of society, by building high quality schools.

Goal: To establish one Isha Vidhya school in each of the 32 districts in Tamil Nadu by 2017.

–These schools will be demonstration, resource and training centers for the local Government and other rural schools in the surrounding areas

Isha Vidhya – Key Statistics

• First School Start Date – Jun 2006

• Total # of Schools Now - 8• Total # of Students -4050• % Girls -46%• Total # of Teachers - 223• Current cumulative cost per

child – Rs.950 per month• Avg Income of Parents –

Rs. 5000/month ($ US 105/BPS 66)

• 58% of students on Scholarship

(some are fully supported, some pay for transport & uniforms, some a small amount for food)

Isha Vidhya – ManagementThe Executive Team consists of experienced individuals who work on a pro bono basis.

Vinod Hari – Project Director. B.Tech-IITM and PGDM – IIMB. Wide experience in the areas of finance and infrastructure. Formerly Head – Agri & Food at IDFC Ltd.

C.P.Viswanath – Academic Director. Educator, Entrepreneur and Musician. Over 12 years of experience in International business with Thermax Ltd. Co-founder and Director of Karadi Tales Company Pvt. Ltd.

The Board of 9 Trustees includes reputed people like Deepak Satwalekar (Ex-MD of HDFC & HDFC Standard Life) & Prahlad Kakkar (Ad-Guru).

Ravi Venkatesan (Independent Director- Infosys, Ex- Chairman of Microsoft India, is on the Advisory Committee.

Board of Trustees

Management Committee

Advisory Council

Executive Team

SchoolsFund

RaisingDonor

Response

School Co-ordinators

AccountsAdmin/Maint.

Construc-tion

Principal/VP

School Admin

Isha Vidhya - Growth

There are many interesting and innovative initiatives in rural schooling. So what’s new?

Isha Vidhya – Key Differentiating Factors

- Learning with understanding- Learning with joy- Creating efficient learners

Isha Vidhya – Key Differentiating Factors• Focused attention on Pedagogy development based on a deep

understanding of the ecosystem– One size does not fit all– Nutritional, nurturing and genetic deficits among students when they enter

the school. Continuing deficiency in the home atmosphere and lack of exposure

– Limitations of the available teachers in rural environments– The opportunities being presented by Technology

• Isha Vidhya methodology focuses on student goals below– Acquiring English proficiency early, by Class 2– Becoming familiar with the computer and using Computer Aided Learning,

DVD Materials, VSAT classrooms, all by Class 1– Using infrastructure such as maths lab and library to learn with

understanding– Learn and practice yoga, get involved in a diverse range of activities such as

tree plantation, waste management to become more confident and aware of themselves and the world around them.

• Nutritious noon-meals with added micronutrients• Isha Vidhya, can draw on a global volunteer base of its parent

organization, the Isha Foundation

Impact – EI-India benchmarking assessment

• Independent assessment by EI-India of Class 4 and 6 students. • A curriculum neutral assessment that focuses on testing

understanding• Scientific sub-categorization within subjects highlights areas of

strong and poor learning – an important indicator and tool for the pedagogy team

• Benchmarking against urban ASSET schools and Government schools

• Isha Vidhya students scored higher than Government school students but lower than urban ASSET schools

• Maths +8% / -13%; Language +17.5% / -12%; Science +13.2% / -9%

• Goal – equal or surpass the urban ASSET school scores in 2 years

Impact• The schools transform almost every aspect of a child’s life &

parental attitudes to education, as well

• The child– Learns basic hygiene – Is comfortable comprehending and conversing in English in 2 - 3

years– Is able to develop to their fullest potential through opportunities

exploring sporting and other talents like music, arts, etc.– Children get to learn basic life skills, connect with nature and live

responsibly, which helps them handle life with confidence and sensitivity

– Their physical & mental growth is helped to a great extent by the nutrition provided at the school

– They learn to appreciate their culture & traditions better