The Opportunity Foundation Trust was established in India in 2012 to support the education of girls facing financial difficulties by offering them scholarships to continue their education. Once this gained momentum, the Opportunity Foundation Trust expanded to an early childcare education programme, the Avasar Foundation School, in collaboration with State Education Department in 2017. Its success led to the model being adopted and five more schools were opened in subsequent years. “There is scope to scale this method if social enterpreneurs adopt the model,” says Anand Chaturvedi.
The organisation aimed at meeting the needs of urban families living in large metropolitan areas, who work as cooks, servants and daily wage labourers. “Without access to early childhood education and infrastructure, we worked with the state education department to open free preprimary schools within the premises of government schools.”
Social entrepreneurs are known for finding solutions to society’s problems. What is the problem that you are addressing and what is your solution?
The lack of access to quality early childhood education for families in underserved communities.
What do you see as the benefit of your Catalyst 2030 membership?
I am looking at learning from a global fraternity doing similar work and working towards scaling by collaborating and sharing our model. I hope that more may adopt the model.
Are you collaborating with any other Catalyst 2030 members?
Not yet. It’s early days. I am sure I will cross paths sometime with like-minded members.