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The educational program, based on the model developed by Rishi Valley Institute for Educational Resources (RIVER), was implemented early in 2007. In Rajugella (Mathura District, Uttar Pradesh (UP) state), like in many villages where people live with less than $1/day, education is a rare commodity. Inaccessibility and inefficacity of education feed the vicious cycle of poverty that the India Schoolhouse Fund (ISF) intends to break:
Source: Annual Status of Education Report 2005, Pratham Since the first visit of HBS students in January 2005, a new group of 100 students went to the village in January 2006 and another one visited the completed ISF Education Center in January 2007. This allows students from the developed world to form emotional bonds and a sense of responsibility for youth in other cultures and regions of the world. Children of the village are also connected to a world of opportunities and resources that they would otherwise be unable to access. The ISF team is actively seeking funds to finance ongoing operations and expand the low-cost educational program developed for resource-constrained environments. Once the ISF resource center is operational, the educational program can be rapidly deployed to 15-20 satellite schools in surrounding villages, reaching more than 1,500 children every year. Ensuring successful implementation in Rajugella is the first step toward our larger goal of strengthening the rural education system in India. Business Model
We also build on our relationships with Harvard and MIT experts (professors, alumni, students) to integrate world-class practices and lessons learnt into the curriculum content and methodologies. Our research and development efforts are being fed by research papers, publications and interns from the Harvard Graduate School of Education (GSE), Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard undergrad and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. We are also proud to involve corporate partners in solving the challenges of poverty. We provide opportunities for potential and current employees to feel proud of their organization as world citizens responsible for inclusive development, and for customers to feel confident about the ethical nature of their products and services. Each partnership can be established based on mutual needs and interests. We are grateful to our closest partner Linklaters which funded the opening of our second school in Samarua village and committed to a minimum of five years of operating costs which will enable near 250 children to access quality education in the region. Linklaters is a leading premium global law firm advising global corporations and financial institutions on their most important and challenging transactions and assignments. Because of its long-term commitment to corporate responsibility, Linklaters has been recognized with a Silver Band status in Business in the Community's 2009 Corporate Responsibility Index - the first law firm to achieve a Silver Band for global corporate responsibility performance. We have prepared the foundation for unprecedented impact on a region where 4 million children are out-of-school, and where the majority of those who completed primary education are not really learning. In Mathura district, Pratham found that 60-70% of those who completed 5th grade cannot perform a simple division problem. Governance - US Operations
Implementation Plan The ISF has defined five steps to achieve its goals:
Identify and Analyze Local Customer Needs – Engage the Community ImageAlthough education is highly valued by Indian families, the ISF must ensure engagement from the community to secure commitment of sending children to school every day. Given the poor benefits received from years of ineffective education in the region, different actions are taken to ensure appropriate understanding of the value proposition. First, we identified a local ISF village representative, highly respected by villagers, to facilitate communication with the village chief and constituencies. Second, we created excitement and aspiration through exposure to “role models”.
Construction of Education Center Identify Trusted Partners to Construct a School Facility – “Hardware”
Given its social mission and objective of reaching one million children by 2008 through school construction, we developed a win-win partnership, the success of which was assessed by Naveen Tewari, ISF founder and chairman of the Board, during his visit to the construction site in June 2006. One month after the principal was hired in April, we had completed the material required for grade 1 and grade 2, had hired and trained 9 teachers and created a village education committee to support their efforts. Although the board knew it had made the right choice in hiring the leaders in school, nobody ever believed school operations could start within 2 months, from scratch. Today 215 children attend a quality education school, giving hope to hundreds of families. In the next several years the possibilities are endless as volunteers in India and the US work vigorously to spread the power of education.
Identify and Implement Appropriate Educational Program - "Software"
Children of different ages work in groups to achieve milestones in their education. Should their schooling be interrupted for some reason (a common challenge in rural communities due to religious or harvesting requirements), the ladder enables students to continue their education at the same point when they return.
RIVER runs a center in southern India where it provides training to public school teachers. Government’s recognition for the quality and scalability of this model played an important role in our desire to integrate the multi-grade methodologies in our curriculum. After two visits to the center by ISF founders, we signed a partnership agreement to ensure continuous support for implementing the model successfully in Rajugella village and other rural areas in northern India. Proven benefits captured through the multi-grade classroom model:
* RIVER was awarded the 1st prize for the “The Most Innovative Development Project 2004”, 6th Annual Global Development Conference in Dakar for the effectiveness of its multi-grade classroom model. To learn more about the RIVER’s methodologies, visit:
Step 3 - Satellite System To sustain, scale and provide high-quality education, ISF is developing an integrated school system (nodal hub) where schools in each village are connected to a resource center (center hub). Resources and expertise are concentrated in one location and the network allows sharing of these resources across resource-constrained schools (satellite schools).
This model is scalable as the marginal cost of educating a new child is minimal. The ISF’s strategy on the ground involves four key components:
Conclusion The business model described in each of these steps has been refined based on risks identified and input received from the growing network of highly educated and community development experienced Indians and non-Indian, students and professionals. The ISF Board members have committed to provide the financial resources necessary to ensure continuous operations in case of a difficult time (reserve). Interestingly, funding is not a barrier to scale because the educational program can be replicated to 15-20 satellite schools at minimal cost (no need for investment in infrastructure). In terms of government support, since the resource center in Rajugella will be used to train public school teachers, local government has showed appreciation for ISF’s initiative in reaching national objectives: “Education for All.” and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Our access to high level government officials through the ISF network, in the area of education in particular, will reinforce this alliance, which may be important as ISF expands throughout regions. The speed of expansion depends on the success of the first ISF Resource Center built and operated under the RIVER model. Donors’ investment in Year 1 operations for the satellite system in Rajugella will contribute to this success and more importantly, enable the foundation for a much larger impact on future Indian generations. Growth Leverage Resources for Greater and Sustainable Impact
In the long term, the ISF will respond to existing demands from Indian donors to establish the satellite system in other locations by creating different Funds. Each Fund will be targeted to a specific region and results will be monitored independently. This will enable the ISF to expand its reach and continue to leverage local and international capabilities to ensure successful delivery of education in rural areas.
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After the incredibly warm welcome that Harvard Business School students received from the people of Rajugella village during a trip in 2005, the students felt compelled to address the issues of poverty faced by the community. Five social entrepreneurs founded the India School Fund (ISF) to build a sustainable network of socially conscious young professionals and resources to empower children through education. The ISF succeeded in raising funds to build an education center and in partnering with local experts in the area of education.
Our business model is based on local and international partnerships to leverage comparative expertise and access to resources. In India, we signed partnerships with reputable organizations for the construction of the building and implementation of a successful educational program. In the US, we partner with student clubs across the US to raise funds and send future potential donors to the village during the HBS India treck.
During the HBS visit to the village, MBA students interacted closely with women, men and children, visited their houses, etc. No money was given but trust was established. Third, we reinforced this relationship by starting the construction of the school few months later, and engaged our village representative in the planning and monitoring processes. This paid-off well because on the first day of construction, the ISF village representative organised a ceremony with the villagers where children put a brick on the construction site. Most villagers viewed this as an auspicious occasion and were present to celebrate.
Given the business context in rural areas, we were looking for an organization in which we could comfortably transfer our donor funds to ensure efficient and effective construction of the school building. Round Table India (RTI) is a nonprofit organization of 2500 members composed of businessmen, entrepreneurs and professionals. Since 1962, RTI constructed more than 765 schools, providing education to over 378,000 children across the country in more 75 towns.
During our research for local partners with experience in implementing rural education programs, we found a proven model that addresses the issues identified in Rajugella, including high drop-out rates, poor student motivation, low enrolment and limited resources. After fifteen years of work in rural education, the Rishi Valley Institute for Education Resources (RIVER*) has developed a community-based multi-grade classroom model that enables teachers to support student progress along an individual “ladder of learning”.
The ISF believes that ensuring delivery of quality education in rural India will help break the vicious cycle of poverty and foster economic development. By focusing resources on root causes of problems and strengthening the public education system in rural areas, we will invest donations where greatest impact can be achieved.