Rural education champion
Dr. D. Veerendra Heggade, the dynamic Dharmasthala- (Karnataka) based dharmadikari aka managing trustee, of the Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheswara Temple and the SDM Trust which manages 20 education institutions with an aggregate enrollment of over 25,000 kindergarten-postgraduate students is an individual committed to bringing education to rural households. "It’s over 60 years since India attained independence but we haven’t been able to eradicate poverty. Millions of people including young children, still go to bed hungry day after day as they don’t earn enough to afford even two square meals. The root cause of this pervasive poverty is continuous neglect of education by government during the past six decades. If India’s children are to become the future service providers of the world, we have to urgently establish schools and colleges providing high-quality education," says Heggade, promoter of the SDM group of institutions comprising eight schools and 12 colleges. That apart, Heggade has also promoted the Rathna Manasa Hostel to provide free board and lodging for students of classes VIII-X.
A generous philanthropist, Heggade initiated the Shri Kshethra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project (SKDRP), a rural poverty eradication programme, in 1982. Recently SKDRP achieved a landmark when its reach extended to over 18,000 poorest of poor families in Belthangady and Mangalore districts. Over the past decade, SKDRP has spent over Rs.10 crore in development projects including rural employment generation, improving living standards, building schools and providing micro-credit to cottage industries. Moreover to promote interest in history and art, Heggade has established the Manjusha Museum and the Vintage Car Museum. Schools are encouraged to bring their children for interactive museum visits.
An enthusiastic patron of the cultural and performing arts of coastal Karnataka, Heggade has played a major role in reviving Yakshagana, the ethnic dance-drama performing art, unique to the district of Dakshin Kannada. In 2003 a school for Yakshagana was promoted at Dharmasthala where artistes are trained in the intricacies of this physically testing art form. Moreover the institute has expanded to revive ancient ethnic crafts such as Navalgund carpet weaving and Kasuti embroidery.
Heggade’s grassroots initiatives in education and the social sector have been acknowledged with numerous encomiums and honours. He was awarded the Rajyotsava Award for social work in 1985 by the Karnataka government; honoured with the title of ‘Rajarshi’ by Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma, former president of India (1993); and in 1994 was conferred the Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Award.
Currently, towards empowering rural children and youth, Heggade is focusing on developing farm training centres, libraries and evening schools for adult illiterates, and he hopes to promote 10 new schools by next year for the poor in the remote villages of Dakshin Kannada.
Wind in your sails!
Srinidhi Raghavendra (Dharmasthala)
Businessman philanthropist
The killer tsunami waves of December 2004 which swept over South Asia and displaced thousands of families in coastal Tamil Nadu, changed the life trajectory of advertising professional and hotelier Dmitri Klein who came to India in 1998 with the objective of developing a network of hotels in South India. The devastation wrought by the tsunami prompted him to shelve his original plan, and plunge heart and soul into raising monetary support from friends and contacts abroad to provide relief to displaced farmers and fishermen in the villages contiguous to his home at The Dune Hotel, 15 km from Pondicherry (aka Puducherry) "The huge inflow of money from friends abroad encouraged us to think in terms of long-term relief for displaced families. We have already restored 500 acres of tsunami affected saline agricultural land between Chennai and Pondicherry to benefit 4,000 small farmers, and set up a free dispensary at Keelputhupet on the East Coast Road in Chennai. We also provide vocational education to the children of displaced fishermen so that they acquire alternative livelihood skills," says Klein who left school at 17 to promote an advertising agency in Paris which he closed before coming to India to pursue his two chief interests: hospitality and social work. In 2004 he jointly launched a boutique hotel in Pondicherry, Le Dupleix, with Dilip Kapur of leather boutique Hidesign.
In October 2005 Klein established Children of the World, India (CWI) — a registered public charitable trust based in Chennai and funded by Children of the World, France — together with five other entrepreneurs, in Chennai and Pondicherry. His most cherished project, the CWI Academy provides vocational education to fishermen’s children aged 16-22 years, and has made impressive progress since its inception. Funded by the French Red Cross, the residential school provides free food and transport for a monthly fee of Rs.100 to 106 students in Chennai and 42 in Pondicherry.
The 8,000 sq. ft Chennai academy constructed at a cost of Rs.2.5 crore is equipped with six classrooms, a computer lab with 24 PCs and modern technical labs. Students are housed in a hostel in Chennai, provided free medical facilities, given sports training and encouraged to participate in outdoor activities. The Chennai academy offers six courses — garment technology, embroidery, handstitch, pattern making, graphic design & DTP, and leather goods technology. The Pondicherry school offers two diploma courses: catering technology and metal works training. Instructed by a qualified and trained faculty of 15, students are provided hands-on training in their chosen courses apart from compulsory English language and basic computer learning.
To further benefit the community, Klein wants to increase the number of students to 250, introduce new study courses, and start an entrepreneurship development programme to empower students to set up manufacturing or service units. And the business translation of his vision is an ambitious plan to launch CWI Academy’s in-house Artyzan brand of designer wear which will be marketed in Indian metros and in Paris, New York and Tokyo. Genuinely motivated and altruistic, he’s confident he can achieve all his goals.
The force be with you!
Hemalatha Raghupathi (Chennai)
Happening sector activist
With expenditure in the infrastructure sector expected to rise to Rs.1400,000 crore over the next six years and a plethora of foreign and private investment- friendly government policy pronounce-ments imminent, infrastructure is all set to become the most happening sector of the Indian economy. But while infrastructure projects are being rolled out at unprecedented speed, there’s a conspicuous paucity of trained management professionals for infrastructure industries.This is a lacuna which the Bangalore-based School of Management for Infrastructure and Development Strategies (MINDS) intends to address. In July 2005 it introduced its 12 month postgraduate diploma in infrastructure management (PGDIM). The first batch of 14 students who graduated last July were lapped up by infrastructure companies such as DLF, Gurgaon; IDECK, Bangalore and IL&FS, Delhi at salaries agrregating Rs.3-5 lakh per year. Within the next six months, MINDS’ second batch of PGDIM students will be ready to join this corps of specialist professional managers.
"MINDS’ one year programme in infrastructure management is offered in collaboration with Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), widely reputed as Karnataka’s top technical varsity. Graduates also receive a diploma certificate from VTU," says Dr. K.V. Subramanian, director of MINDS. An electrical engineering graduate of the National Institute of Technology, Karnataka and fellow of IIM-Bangalore, Subramanian put in a 20-year stint with Tata Consultancy Services before signing up with MINDS in April 2006.
MINDS is a division of the Bangalore-based Centre for Symbiosis of Technology, Environment and Management, a registered not-for-profit multi-disciplinary professional society, with two decades of experience in development research, consultancy and training. It currently operates out of the Indian Heritage Academy campus, equipped with state-of-the-art facilities including a computer lab, library and lecture halls.
The one-year PGDIM course which is priced at Rs.1 lakh, is open to graduates of all disciplines and covers project management, marketing, contract management, infrastructure finance, strategic environmental assessment, legal and regulatory environment and emerging paradigms.
Given the enthusiastic response MINDS has received from students and industry alike, an ambitious action plan is on the cards. On the MINDS agenda is a two-year full time MBA in infrastructure, to be launched from July 2007, and short-term executive development programmes for managers working in infrastructure corporates. "We also plan to move to a bigger campus with sophisticated facilities in the next one year," says Subramanian.
Power to your elbow!
Malini Bhattacharya (Bangalore)
English missionary
Following his retirement from the Indian Army in 1992 after 30 years of dedicated service, Major K.V. Rajan has devoted himself to the cause of education. For the past 11 years he has been teaching conversational English with military commitment. Currently as the Chennai-based executive director of Veta, earlier known as the Vivekananda Institute, Rajan’s major pre-occupation is devising ways and means to extend Veta’s reach to impart English speaking skills to as many citizens as possible. Admirably, Veta has trained more than 1.9 million people to speak English fluently. Currently 10,000 students aged between 18-25 years are enrolled in Veta centres countrywide.Founded in Chennai in 1981 by V. Rajagopalan and Ganesh Ram, followers of Swami Vivekananda, the academy has established 90 centres across India, with 13 in Bangalore. Veta offers direct coaching and distance education courses at several levels. "We have disparate modules for our learners," explains Rajan. "We teach conversational English from scratch to raw learners and also have modules for those who know the rudiments of the language, but wish to improve their communication. Moreover there is a separate programme for those with English reading and writing knowledge, but inadequate speaking skills. There is a huge and growing demand for all forms of English learning in India. Although several state governments are hostile to this international language, English is increasingly becoming the preferred communication medium of youth as it multiplies job opportunities and facilitates social mobility."
The course material for conversational English has been developed within the organisation and Veta runs on a franchise business model. Tuition and learning fees range from Rs.900-4,500 per module. "We have a regional office in every state of the Indian Union which supervises the quality of education provided by franchisees who are carefully selected and trained. We keep a constant check on their services by providing students pre-paid postcards for feedback," says Rajan.
An English and education alumnus of Madras and Annamalai universities, Rajan is intent on making Veta a reputable brand abroad. "We are making forays into Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan where we are waiting for registration. There is intensive demand for conversational English, and Veta intends to spearhead projects in all these neighbouring countries," says Rajan.
Right on!
Gaver Chatterjee
(Mumbai)
Jodo Gyan promoter
A small, enterprising Delhi-based group of people banded under the banner of Jodo Gyan is engaged in the task of banishing fear of mathematics from the minds of children by devising, producing and marketing enjoyable, activity-based maths teaching-learning materials. Usha Menon, a scientist with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research’s Delhi-based National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies is the tech brain behind this independent NGO, dedicated to finding workable solutions to common problems in school classrooms. "Education is a sector where technological innovation can make a huge difference, something all of us want to see," says Menon who together with E.K. Shaji, a social activist and former employee of Scholastic (a global children’s publishing company) floated Jodo Gyan — a charitable trust — in 1999.
In 1995-96 following a World Bank initiated literacy campaign, Menon became directly involved with education. "Literacy per se is not enough to help people who face social deprivation, so we brainstormed about teaching basic hygiene skills and basic maths. Shaji, a man of letters and strong activism thought we should provide children high- quality reading material rooted in local folklore and culture. After he resigned from Scholastic, we registered Jodo Gyan as a trust," she recalls.
A graduate of IIT-Madras who read for a doctorate in technology transfer policy without completing it, Menon is a development researcher helping Jodo Gyan in conducting cutting-edge research. "Our ultimate objective is to make scientific innovations useful at ground level. At Jodo Gyan, we address two main objectives: to develop methods and materials to enhance maths teaching/learning processes and develop appropriate context-specific strategies for education," says Menon.
Activity-based mathematics (addition and subtraction, multiplication, fractions, decimals and geometry) is taught through games, puzzles and educational toys (in the price range Rs.10-500), which are either the NGO’s own creation and adaption or sourced from similar organisations like Navnirmati and Eklavya. Moreover, Menon and her team have moved beyond mathematics and incorporated science teaching as their next objective.
Jodo Gyan volunteers showcase their technological prowess, methods and products at teacher workshops, education fairs and parent-teacher meetings and schools ranging from slum schools to top-end institutions like Doon School, Dehradun; Woodstock; Bishop Cotton School, Shimla, and Delhi Public School which use their material. Currently an estimated 1,000 children are benefiting from Jodo Gyan’s programmes. "We have to establish a linkage between old and new knowledge to make practical and conceptual knowledge valuable to young minds," says Menon.
Wind beneath your wings!
Autar Nehru
(New Delhi)