1. India’s rural masses have the
potential to contribute and
share in the growth of this
country; the key is education.
Isha Vidhya
Educating Rural India
2. 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
Our main Challenge
• Need to Empower rural children while preserving the identity and culture of
the rural community they live in
Education is the only ladder we can provide to help India’s rural population
come out of their hopeless situation- Sadhguru
3. 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
4. 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)
5. Isha Vidhya – Management
The Executive Team consists of experienced
individuals who work on a pro bono basis.
Board of Trustees
Vinod Hari – Project Director. B.Tech-IITM and
PGDM – IIMB. Wide experience in the areas of
Advisory Council
finance and infrastructure.
Formerly Head – Agri & Food at IDFC Ltd.
Management Committee C.P.Viswanath – Academic Director. Educator,
Entrepreneur and Musician. Over 12 years of
experience in International business with Thermax
Executive Team Ltd. Co-founder and Director of Karadi Tales
Company Pvt. Ltd.
School Co-ordinators
Fund Donor Admin/ Construc-
Schools Accounts
Raising Response Maint. tion
Principal
School Admin
/VP
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.
7. 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
8. 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
9. 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
10. 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
