The quality of education has been the guiding principle of our work
We took our first steps in the field of Education with the belief that a good school is where stories of positive change begin. Keeping this in mind, in 2001, we began programmatic interventions in government schools. From reducing the rate of dropouts to making schools safe and inclusive spaces, our programmes such as Learning Guarantee, Child-friendly School Initiative and Accelerated Learning addressed several challenges and concerns in the government schools.
After a decade, we shifted our approach to a more institutional mode. Our resolve to strengthen the government school system is illustrated by the deep, extensive and on-the-ground work that our teams in the field execute. They work closely and consistently with people who have a direct influence on teaching and learning in the classroom: teachers, head teachers and education department functionaries.
Our work in Education is spread across 7 states and 1 Union Territory.
A significant part of our work in the field is research. Using primary data from the districts in which we work, our teams conduct field research studies on key issues in school education. We seek to influence policy and disseminate our insights and studies to practitioners and academics working in the field of education.
After our large-scale involvement in relief and vaccination-related work during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Foundation’s initiatives in Health took off in 2022, at three slum clusters in Bengaluru. It then expanded to 10 districts around the borders of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh in 2023. In the same year, we also introduced a master’s degree programme in public health at our university in Bhopal.
We are now building our expertise in Health to help strengthen the public health system through a combination of comprehensive and extensive work on the ground.
The third key domain of our work is Livelihoods.
Increased and sustainable income improves the quality of life of every household. It is our effort to support people and communities to achieve this. From encouraging value additions to traditional livelihoods to spreading awareness on entitlements under government Acts such as MNREGA and National Food Security Act, our teams cover significant aspects of income generation.
As in Health and Education, our work in Livelihoods,too, is geared towards the support of some of India’s most vulnerable and marginalised people. We took our first steps under Livelihoods in the country’s central Adivasi belt, in Raigarh and Gumla districts of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand respectively.
