Azim Premji Foundation

Azim Premji Foundation is a not-for profit organisation that has been working for more than a decade now towards making deep, large scale and institutionalised impact on the quality and equity of education in India, along with related development areas. Any large scale educational change requires significant and sustained effort over many decades and can only be achieved through working at multiple levels as well as on several areas simultaneously. The Foundation today works in 8 states which together have more than 3,50,000 schools. Key aspects of its work are as follows: Partnering with Government: Azim Premji Foundation works in collaboration with State Governments and engages with teachers, teacher educators, head teachers, block and cluster level education officials, senior government functionaries and policy makers at the state and national level. State and District Institutes: The Foundation has State Institutes in the capitals of select Indian states and several District Institutes within these states, each having dedicated teams. The work of the State and District Institute is institutional in nature, recognising that long term and consistent engagement is necessary for educational change. These Institutes work at the grass root level, closely engaging with the government education system. The range of work they do spans capacity building of teachers, head teachers and other functionaries at the district level and state level. It also involves work on curriculum, assessment, educational leadership and management, policy issues and advocacy at the state level. The Foundation, today, has institutes that are located at Karnataka (Bangalore, Yadgir, Mandya and Gulbarga), Rajasthan (Jaipur, Sirohi, Tonk, Barmer and Rajsamand), Uttarakhand (Dehradun, Uttarkashi, Udham Singh Nagar and Almora), Bihar (Patna), Chhattisgarh (Raipur and Dhamtari), Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal) and Puducherry. At many of the District Institutes, schools have been established for the specific purpose of demonstration. These schools provide quality free education to the local community, at costs and constraints similar to that of rural government schools. Research: In many of the states, the Foundation is engaged in large scale educational research work that will create new knowledge and also support evidence based policy making. Scale and Reach: Over the next few years, the Foundation plans to have about 50 District Institutes, 30 schools and over 4000 employees.

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