Run for Isha Vidhya @ TCS World 10K Run, Bangalore !

Greetings from Isha Vidhya, an initiative of Isha Education, which is working tirelessly in transforming the landscape of rural education in India.

Isha Vidhya rural schools have been started in villages (under the umbrella Trust of Isha Education, established in 2005) to provide high quality education to rural children who cannot otherwise access or afford it.  Isha Vidhya’s English-medium schools open the door for rural children to successfully pursue higher studies and gainful employment.  The holistic, activity-based approach nurtures children’s development beyond just academics, ensuring that students realize their full potential and learn in a joyful environment.
  

The first Isha Vidhya School opened in June 2006 near Coimbatore. Today, seven Isha Vidhya Schools are running in villages in the districts of Coimbatore, Erode, Nagercoil, Tuticorin, Villupurum, Salem and Cuddalore, Tamilnadu. The schools are currently serving 3500 students, 60% of whom are supported on full scholarships. Most of these students are first generation learners from economically backward families. Each of these schools is presently operating upto the 7^th Standard. Classes would be added every year as the children progress to the 12^th Standard.

The Board of Trustees includes, among others, eminent people like Mr. Deepak Satwalekar, ex-MD of HDFC & HDFC Standard Life, Mr. Prahlad Kakkar, well known Advertising Guru and Mr. Ravi Venkatesan, Ex-Chairman of Microsoft India and presently on the Board of Infosys.

In the recent Mumbai Marathon held on Jan 15^th, 2012, over 200 volunteers ran and raised funds for Isha Vidhya, including 120 from 5 corporates (Alok Industries, HP, IBM, Mahendra Brothers, and MyIris.com).

For the current year, the schools have a large infrastructure budget
requirement of INR 5.3 Mio (approx. USD 1.1 Mn) for the following:

• 4000 children requiring noon meal sponsorships for 2012-13
• 1000 newly enrolled children who require scholarship support for 2012-13
• Furniture and equipment (including labs) for the 7 schools
• Construction of 49 classrooms and 5 toilet blocks in 7 schools. (New classes required for additional sections and new labs as children move into 8^th standard)

So, come run, and support Isha Vidhya in the TCS World 10K Bangalore Run scheduled for May 27, 2012.  Talk to your friends, colleagues, relatives and acquaintances about Isha Vidhya and raise funds !  Talk to your company and see if they can become a co-sponsor of the event on behalf of Isha Vidhya, let us know, and we will get in touch with them !

For registering to run and for more details, please email iv.blr10k@gmail.com