The Bodhitree Foundation Trust is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating the poor and eradicating poverty. The program is designed to address the lack of educational opportunities available for children in poverty and how attending to this issue can lead to the elimination of poverty in India. This volunteer-based foundation has multiple chapters in various towns across the country that provide coaching classes and mentoring for students to obtain the basic skills necessary in the workforce.
The Foundation began by implementing various programmes to improve educational quality across the country. however it became clear that working on a “project” mode was inadequate and it takes continuous effort over many decades for any deep-rooted change to happen. This can only be achieved by establishing “institutions” which are embedded in the local context and can collaborate with local government structures. Thus the idea of setting up District Institutes in field locations came into being.
History
Having successfully built BP Law, Savitroday Technologies Pvt. Ltd. etc. to be a business leader, Adv. Sunil Kumar felt the need to contribute to a social cause and address the various developmental challenges facing the country.
Discussions between them on the various developmental issues Savitroday could work. The note identified education, nutrition, healthcare and some initiatives in governance as possible areas of work. Through subsequent discussions, primary education was narrowed down as the Foundation’s focus of work because it was a critical factor that significantly impacted other issues in the country.
This history of the Foundation can be divided into three major phases.In the first phase a decision was taken to work in the area of public education on the issues of equity and quality. It was also decided that the Foundation would be an operating entity. During the second phase, the Foundation worked intensively in collaboration with state governments across multiple states in the country. The range of work included assessment, curriculum reform, school textbook development, policy and capacity development of teachers and education functionaries. Towards the end of the second phase a conviction grew within the organisation that it had to commit to school education in a more permanent and sustainable manner.
Major Initiatives
