Adhyayan Foundation aims to serve the 113 million children in India who study in government schools. These children live in some of the most vulnerable communities, where their parents serve as migrant workers, farmers and daily wage earners.
The organisation works with children from schools across Goa, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland with a focus on serving communities in remote and geographically challenging, underserved and underfunded regions. Its team also works with Gram Panchayat libraries (village libraries) in Karnataka.
Sustainable Development Goals targeted
Social entrepreneurs are known for finding solutions for society’s problems. What is the problem that you are addressing, and what is your solution?
The lack of quality education in schools, despite the 98% enrolment rate achieved in India, is an issue that needs solutions.
The traditional approach to improving quality in the education system focuses on isolated problem solving in a piecemeal manner, rather than building the capacity of schools, communities and stakeholders to ensure systemic improvement. Adhyayan attempts to solve this problem by:
- Developing a common language of school education quality linked to a measurable quality framework
- Building school and system leaders’ skills to use evidence to review schools
- Support schools as mentors and enable improvement through data-based decision making and evidence-based sharing in professional learning communities of leaders
- Shifting school and system leaders’ perceptions and attitudes, from those of penalising schools and exercising authority, to enabling improvement through support and the creation of spaces where needs are addressed and ideas are shared
- Developing a clear institutionalised plan to sustain school improvement by leveraging the mandate of the National Education Policy 2020
What do you see as the benefit of your Catalyst 2030 membership?
Catalyst 2030 (C2030) is a professional learning community for Adhyayan. Here, we have found like-minded organisations that focus on systems thinking worldwide. Our organisation has been promoted through active participation in Catalysing Change Week (CCW) and by featuring as case studies in C2030 reports on education and people driven development.
Are you collaborating with any other Catalyst 2030 members?
C2030 members, such as the Learning Curve Foundation, have approached us to collaborate. Our founder is the co-chair of Working Group (WG) 4. She actively participated in WGs on education and has contributed to the privilege framework that WG 4 is using in Zambia.