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| Abbreviation | EVF |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1986 |
| Founder | Bhaurao Deoras Shyam Gupta |
| Location |
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| Website | www.ekal.org |
Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation (transl. Singularity School Foundation;abbr.EVF) is the principal organisation of theEkal Abhiyan project, a one teacher school initiative in India. The foundation operates under the umbrella organisation ofEkal Abhiyan Trust and has a number of associated organisations called theFriends of Tribals Society (FTS), Shree Hari Satsang Samiti (SHSS), Arogya Foundation of India (AFI), Grammotham Foundation (GF) and Ekal Sansthan (ES).[1] EVF is actively involved in fund-raising activities in several countries outside India, most notably the United States,[2] and is associated with theRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.[3][4] The Ekal Vidyalaya schools were assisted by theNDA Government from 1999–2000 onwards.[5][3][6]
The Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation was founded inGumla district,Jharkhand in 1986. The one teacher schooling initiative was conceptualised by Bhaurao Deoras, the younger brother of the 3rdSarsanghchalak ofRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS),Madhukar Dattatraya Deoras. The organisation was developed on Bhaurao's vision by a senior functionary of the RSS named Shyam Gupta.[1]
In the 1990s, global support networks were established. The Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of India was officially registered in 2000 and the EVF-USA was registered soon after.[7]
As of August 2020, there were more than 102753 schools run by EVF, including 2,100 schools in theNorth Eastern states.[8] The number of schools grew to 27,000 in 2010, 34,000 in 2011, 51,717 in 2013 and 1,02,753 by 2020.[9][10] EVF's goal is to reach every child in the rural areas where education and school is a challenge. EVF is targeting to reach 2,00,00 village schools by 2030.
Ekal foundation of Nepal launched the program in 1996 and now the foundation is operating 2,310 primary schools imparting education to 60,995 students in 54 districts of Nepal.[11]
EVF is associated with the Hindu nationalist organisationsVishva Hindu Parishad, which is in turn a member of theSangh Parivar, the family of organisations run by theRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).[3][4] The foundation was headed in the past bySubhash Chandra, the Chairman ofEssel Group and the founder ofZee TV.[12]Hema Malini, Indian actress and danseuse, has served as the global brand ambassador for the Ekal Vidyalaya movement.[13]
The Ekal Vidyalayas provide five years of free, non-formal education to children from the age group 6–14 years. A typical school has 30–40 students taught by a local youth who has passed grades 8 or 9 and has been specifically trained. A local organizer looks after a unit of 10 schools, called a "subcluster". Local people are also involved in higher organization levels like a "cluster" (unit of 30 schools), subarea (unit of 90 schools), and area (unit of 270 schools). The classes take place under a tree or in a hut and use informal modes like storytelling, folk dramas, folk songs, and religious discourses.[14] Around half of the students and teachers are females, and about a fifth of the students go on to pursue higher education, some of which return to serve the foundation.
The schools are primarily organized in small villages among India's tribal groups. The local youth who are trained to operate the schools are social workers and teachers, teaching sanitation and health care, literacy, and self-sufficiency.[15]Each school is run on an annual budget of around 20,000Indian rupees. At the national level, the schools are organized by Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of India. Regionally, Ekal Vidyalayas are run by theFriends of Tribals Society (FTS) andBharat Lok Shiksha Parishad (BLSP) NGOs and by state-level groups such as Janahitha inAndhra Pradesh and Bharatiya Janseva Sansthan inGujarat.[16][17] In addition to teaching children, the schools hold weekly sessions for the village populace to discuss issues like rural development, health and awakening.[16]
Along with literacy, Ekal Vidyalaya schools also impart moral education.[18][19] EVF works in tribal areas on health care education with the emphasis on hygiene, treatment of general diseases, maternal and child care. The foundation operates 11,450 health centers in India for people living in rural and tribal India.
The foundation distributes medicines to children for the treatment of various diseases.[19] The schools also run a rural development scheme under which use of organic fertilizers is promoted in place of chemical fertilizers.[19] Professional training in agriculture and vermiculture is provided.[14] In May 2011, EVF launched theVermicompost Project, a pilot project with an aim to introduce self-sustaining practices in 100 poor villages ofOrissa andMaharashtra.[20] In December 2011, the Ekal Vidyalaya staff resolved to raise voice against addiction in rural areas.[21]
The Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of USA (EVF USA) is active in fundraising. In June 2008, the Atlanta chapter entertained guests with a music program at a fundraising event.[22]In May 2009, the Southern California chapter launched its annual fundraising drive.[23]A benefit concert in Chicago in July 2009 raised $160,000.[24]In September 2009, the San Diego chapter raised about $14,000 at a cultural event featuring music and dance.[25]The organisation announced that a similar event in Dallas in November 2009 had been very successful.[26]In May 2010, a fundraising concert in Chicago was attended by over 600 people and raised pledges of $82,525.[27]The same month, Ekal Vidyalaya raised almost $500,000 from five charity shows in the mid-Atlantic region.[10] As of 2010, EVF USA had 34 active chapters and supported 9,500 out of the 34,343 Ekal Vidyalayas in India. The foundation raised US$3.5 million in 2010. EVF USA organises fundraising programs in 45 cities in the United States, which feature Indian singers or marathons.[2]
EVF Australia was set up in 2004.[28]It received the Tax exemption for donation in 2007. As of June 2015 EVF Australia has sponsored 850 Ekal schools.[citation needed]In 2006, theNational Hindu Students' Forum (UK) selected Ekal Vidyalaya as the main recipient of fundraising during its annual Sewa Week drive.[29] EVF has around 1,000 donors in Hong Kong.[14]
EVF's single-teacher school concept and their contribution towards literacy and empowerment in the rural and tribal areas have been praised by several state governments and social organisations in India.[2] Avinash Kaushik, American entrepreneur and author, wrote that foundations like theSmile Train,Doctors Without Borders and Ekal Vidyalaya have done "incredible work" and "they make the world a better place".[30]Digital Learning, a magazine on education, described the non-formal education experiment by EVF in Jharkhand from 1986 to 1995–96 as "extraordinary", noting that literacy rate in Jharkhand doubled in this period, and diseases caused by unhygienic practices, witchcraft and alcoholism declined sharply.[14] TheNational Rural Health Mission (NRHM), a program for health care in rural India run by theMinistry of Health and Family Welfare, approached EVF for imparting healthcare training to women. EVF developed the women-centric "Asha" programme for NRHM in response.[14]
According toA Factual Response to the Hate Attack on the India Development and Relief Fund (IDRF), Yvette Rosser, American author and scholar, wrote that the Ekal Vidyalaya program has done "incredible work" and "brought literacy to millions of India's children who otherwise would not know how to read and write".[31]Raman Singh, the Chief Minister ofChhattisgarh, praised the work done by Ekal Vidyalayas run by the FTS in 2500 tribal villages of the state in spreading education.[32] In 2009, Yoga guruSwami Ramdev said at the Ekal International Conference in Delhi that the Ekal Vidyalayas are a medium for definite service to God.
In 2005, a report prepared by an inquiry committee of theIndian Ministry of Human Resource Development found that in some Ekal Vidyalaya schools the names of enrolled students had been copied from registers of government-run schools. The schools did not provide reading and learning material, and used funds to "generate hatred toward minorities, and condition the minds of children". The report said the FTS was "misusing these funds, and using the grants for creating disharmony amongst religious groups and creating a political cadre". In May 2005 the Indian government stopped grants to the schools based on this report.[37]Quoting from the report inThe Milli Gazette,Mukundan C. Menon noted that the English booklet used to teach second year students in Jharkhand omitted six letters of the alphabet. Menon said the reason was names of Hindu Gods beginning with these letters are not common.[38]
In 2002,Sabrang Communications and South Asia Citizens Web published a report namedThe Foreign Exchange of Hate – IDRF and the American Funding of Hindutva on utilisation of funds byIndia Development and Relief Fund. The report alleged the VHP-run Ekal Vidyalaya schools had the goal of "Hinduizing" tribals and spreading hatred against Indian minorities.[39][40] In 2005John Dayal, then president of theAll India Catholic Union (AICU) and a member of theNational Integration Council expressed concern that the schools were spreading hatred towards members of the Christian minority, in order to "prevent conversions of tribals to Christianity by missionaries."[6]In a 2008 articleAngana Chatterji, associate professor of anthropology atCalifornia Institute of Integral Studies, identified Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of USA as one of the charities in the US that had allocated money "disproportionately directed toHindutva-affiliated groups".[41] In an article in theDaily Times ofPakistan,Khalid Hasan described the Ekal Vidyalayas as having a "curriculum steeped in instilling hatred against non-Hindu religious minorities".[42]Rights activists have claimed that the schools pursue a Hindu-nationalist agenda and generate hatred towards non-Hindu minorities such as Christians.[3]
In response to the 2002 report published by Sabrang Communications, in March 2003 Ramesh Rao, professor of Communication atTruman State University, and others wrote a report namedA Factual Response to the Hate Attack on the India Development and Relief Fund (IDRF).In this report, they wrote that "there has been a concerted campaign against the Ekal Vidyalayas by a combination of media and academic networks ... try as they might, they really cannot find anything wrong with the schools".[43]According to Prakash Sharma, media convener of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, "The Ekal Vidyalayas are our effort to reach the most deprived areas of the country. Christian missionaries get funds from all over the world: the entire Christian empire backs them. Ours is a completely indigenous effort".[3]François Gautier, French author and journalist, described the Ekal Vidyalayas as "a harmless programme doing wonderful job for tribal children", and questioned why organisations raising funds for them were attacked.[44]A Factual Response to the Hate Attack on the India Development and Relief Fund (IDRF) quotes Yvette Rosser as saying that "the ladies and gentlemen in the villages who teach in Ekal Vidyalaya schools are not teaching hate".[31]A Factual Response to the Hate Attack on the India Development and Relief Fund (IDRF) notes that several other authors have praised the schools' role in providingliteracy to millions of children, and stated that the schools do not teach hate but have themselves been the target of a campaign by media and academic networks.[31][43]
{{cite news}}:|last= has generic name (help)[permanent dead link]{{cite news}}:|last= has generic name (help){{cite news}}:|last= has generic name (help)मुख्यमंत्री ने समाज सेवी संस्था वनबंधु परिषद द्वारा आदिवासी अंचलों में शिक्षा के प्रचार-प्रसार के लिए किए जा रहे कार्यो की प्रशंसा की।
... only the names of Hindu Gods [sic] were used to teach English alphabet. ... A for Arjun, B for Brahma, C for Cow, D for Dhruva,.G for Ganesh, H.for Hanuman,.J for Jambavan,.M for Mahadev,.O for Om,.R for Ram,.T for Temple, U for Uma. ... Ironically, the letters 'E', 'F', 'Q', 'W', 'X' and 'Z' simply does [sic] not exist in this booklet. ... Reason? No names of Hindu Gods beginning with these letters are readily available!