Gift an education...Make a life !

Imagine playing your favorite game, not just for fun but also to support
rural kids’ education. There’s lots of innovative ways to do your bit for
society, but the Isha “Make a Life” Golf Jaunt is probably one of the
more unique, fun and fulfilling ways you could find. Business leaders
and professional golfers play a game of golf with Sadhguru, and the
funds raised go towards sponsoring rural children’s education at the
Isha Vidhya schools!

The golf jaunt happens every year, and this year’s edition took place at
Willingdon Sports Club, Mumbai, on December 4. The 84 participants
included business icons such as Harsh Mariwala, Chariman, Marico
Industries, Vijay Chauhan, CMD Parle Products, Atul Laul, President,
Reliance Industries Ltd, Rajesh Batra, Chairman Proline Apparels, and
Sidharth Punshi, MD of JP Morgan India Pvt Ltd among others.
The tournament followed the four-ball format with stableford scoring!

Shashi Shetty, Executive Chairman of AllCargo, Abhay Aima,
Group Head of the HDFC Bank & school children kick started the
Isha Vidhya Golf Jaunt!

Shared Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, Founder of Isha Education Trust,
which runs the Isha Vidhya project: "Not just about golf. It's about
rural education. Most important thing in India is its rural mass. 65%
of population is uneducated.  Giving them the education to walk out
of the social and economic pit is most important. We are active in
516 schools and making a huge difference."

After an exciting day of golf, Mr. Shashi Shetty, MD All Cargo Logistics
awarded the trophy for Overall Winner to Mr. Rajiv Raichand, Finance
Director, Brookfield Multiplex. The overall gross winner was Jaideep
Singh, MD & COO Rabo Bank.

Some statistics about state of education in India:

• Indian students were ranked second last amongst 73 countries
  that participated in the 2011
  Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), in which
  students from Tamil Nadu & Himachal Pradesh, the states with the
  best performance in India, participated.
• The ASER (Annual Status of Education Report) report for 2011 states
  that 20% of students in class 8 cannot read from a Class 2 textbook.
  58.1% of Class 3 students do not know subtraction.
• Isha Vidhya’s study of government school students in Tamil Nadu
  showed that 35% of students in Class 9 could not read or write their
  first language (Tamil), and did not have basic mathematics skills.
• According to the World Bank, one standard deviation in student score
  on international assessments of basic literacy and numeracy is
  approximately proportional to a 2% difference in GDP per capita growth.
• In Government schools of India, 18.6% are without toilets, 51% are
  without electricity, 5% are without water, and 47.7% are without
  playground.

As a country with a significant young demographic, which according to
studies, is likely to result in 70% of the population falling in the working
age group by 2025, India’s future surely lies in the education of our children.
Without quality education, not only is our future bleak, our demographic
dividend could well turn out to be a demographic burden as well.

How Isha Vidhya helps

Part of Isha’s social outreach programs, Isha Vidhya is a non-profit
organisation founded in 2006. It is committed to raising the level of
education and literacy in rural India and helping disadvantaged children
realise their full potential.

Isha Vidhya runs nine rural schools in southern India with 6415 children.
58% of students are on scholarship-supported tuition and many of them
are first-generation schoolgoers from their families. Isha Vidhya also
encourages the eduation of girls, actively working with families and
communities in this direction. 46% of students at Isha Vidhya are girls.

Schooling at Isha Vidhya is offered at either a very low cost or free of
cost, depending on the economic situation of the child. Students have
access to transportation to and from school. Lunches are provided at
some of the schools. Students receive regular nutritional health
supplements. School buildings are designed in open-concept,
classroom clusters that are architecturally intriguing and inspiring for
the students. In-school celebrations of traditional festivals and holidays
help keep educational and cultural values alive.

Isha Vidhya’s uniqueness lies in its high potential for scalability
and replication. The Isha Vidhya schools follow a carefully planned
methodology designed to educate and nurture the wellbeing of rural
children on all levels – academically, physically and mentally. The
approach has been specially designed to compensate for the absence
of an English-speaking environment at home and the shortage of
qualified teachers, creating a scalable model for delivering quality
education.

Extensive libraries with print, audio, video and computer materials
enhance the learning process. All the education at Isha Vidhya
revolves around recognition and celebration of the identity, culture
and tradition of the rural communities. From CD ROM lessons to
organic farming, Isha Vidhya schools empower rural children to
have vocational options.

Government school adoption

Through critical interventions in 56 rural government schools in
Tamil Nadu and 460 schools in Andhra Pradesh, Isha Vidhya also
benefits an additional 72,000 children. Isha has supported and
enhanced these schools by maintaining the recommended
pupil-teacher ratio of 35:1 with additional teachers, conducting
training modules for teachers, student remedial classes for basic
literacy & numeracy skills, as well as conducting a host of
extracurricular activities such as yoga, sports and music.

Links:

• Isha Vidhya at Global Giving