Agastya's Introduction

Agastya International Foundation is a Bangalore-based education trust that seeks to transform and stimulate the thinking of rural children and teachers. Agastya does this by bringing hands-on science education to rural Government schools spread across the southern Indian states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, through the use of outreach programs such as the “Science on Wheels” (Mobile Lab Program) and Mega Science fairs. Agastya's stated vision is to build a creative India of ‘tinkerers, solution-seekers and creators’ that are ‘humane, anchored and connected’ by inspiring widespread social development, innovation and leadership through education. It is one of the largest mobile science education programs for disadvantaged children and rural teachers in the world.

History

Agastya was established as a Public Charitable Trust in 1999. It is the brainchild of a group of individuals, led by Ramji Raghavan, a former non resident Indian banker. Ramji came back to India with a vision of providing education to poor children and teachers - education that would be the opposite of conventional techniques that emphasize theoretical, rote-based learning. Ramji was interested in starting a rural education center that would offer creative, alternative education. In conjunction with educationists, scientists and institutional leaders, Ramji felt that the emphasis needed to be on hands-on science to spark curiosity and engage children in creative thinking and questioning. Gopi Warrier, Chairman, Ayurveda Holdings, named the foundation after Maharishi Agastya, famous for spreading sacred knowledge to south India, authoring Tamil grammar and creating the Siddha school of medicine.

Agastya networked with eminent scientists, developing a new method of education that would make learning scientific concepts fun, useful and accessible. Investors like Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Alok Oberoi and Desh Deshpande have helped Agastya by funding its programs and helping craft its strategies.

Achievement and recognition

Agastya's programs have reached over 3 million children (of whom 50 percent are girls) and 120,000 teachers, from vulnerable and disadvantaged communities. With 40 mobile labs and 20 science centers Agastya provides annually over 1.5 million exposures. For two years in a row (2009, 2009) rural students from Agastya have won awards at the highly competitive IRIS-Intel National Science Fair Competition. Furthermore the Prime Minister’s National Knowledge Commission has also recommended the Agastya model for India-wide scale-up, and Agastya’s ‘commitment to action’ was recognized by the Clinton Global Initiative in 2008. Agastya was also invited to present its work at the Centenary Conference of the Indian Institute of Science, at the PanIIT2008 and MIT Media Lab. The Agastya Mobile lab program was featured in the July 27, 2009 issue of India Today Special issue – The Game Changers: Individuals and institutions who have transformed education in India.