Student Name: Adhitya Ajith -- Runner Up (High School Cohort)

Grade During 2019-2020 Academic Year: 9th Grade

Hometown: West Des Moines, Iowa

India is the second most populated country with the world’s fifth largest economy and a major driver of global economic growth.  As a developing country, India is faced with many socio-economic problems and is challenged with developing a skilled work force for sustaining its upward economic trajectory. India has addressed some of the past problems including poverty, rural development, gender discrimination, clean water, education and income inequality. For example, in 2009, approximately 29.8% of India’s population lived in poverty compared to 8.5% today. Government policies alone have been unable to completely solve these problems.   While some issues get focused on, other pressing problems get less attention. Many not-for-profit and non-governmental organizations (NGO) are joining hands to address the major problems the country faces today. 

During my previous visits to India, I noticed that access to education in rural communities was inadequate. According to the 2011 Census, India had a literacy rate of 74.04%. The report suggested two major problem areas, 1) the underprivileged population of rural villages are less educated, and 2) females do not have easy access to learning or education compared to men. Improvements to access to education were achieved, but not for all. To address the problem, first it is important to know which parts of India and what strategy best works for the area.  Let me explain this with the example of Kerala which has been in the forefront providing education to all. Today, the literacy rates across rural population is at the highest in of Kerala compared to the rest of the nation. Kerala also has the highest literacy rate among men and women. The state placed major emphasis on education starting in the 1980’s by investing 37% of the state’s annual budget. The state built elementary schools close to villages, provided free meals and school supplies to kids, started evening classes for women, and supported missionaries and social reformers in their efforts on mass education. Educational reforms in the state were brought through the people’s commitment and community engagement, especially the remote areas, which leads me to my next point.

Taking the perspective of an Indian, who wants to enact change, executing solutions will not be as difficult as someone from the United States. The question is how a U.S. citizen can address the problem of education being thousands of miles away without firsthand experience. Make A Difference (MAD) is a youth driven NGO based in India that works to educate people living in poverty, provide job and skill training and support higher education. There are many such NGO’s that are working to counter the issue of education inequality. These organizations carry out grassroot activities reaching the most underprivileged kids who live in the slums or are too poor to afford education. Unfortunately, the NGO does not have the network to connect with kids living in villages and rural parts of India. The situation is worse for kids who live in rural parts of India, because they have limited access to schools and NGOs like MAD have limited reach.  This is exactly what I want to focus on. If groups in India are struggling to bring education to remote villages, how can I do it from the United States? One way to be part of the solution is to develop initiatives, conduct community fundraising and collaborate with organizations that have bases in the U.S. and in India. The Sehgal Foundation and Pratham are two organizations working on initiatives such as ‘Transform Lives one school at a time’ and ‘Every child in school and learning well,’ respectively. These organizations are applying progressive and solution-centric approaches to bring big changes in rural education. Sehgal Foundation’s initiatives have led to infrastructure improvements of schools in rural India, while also providing innovative learning experience to attract kids. At the same time, Pratham focuses on providing a cost-effective education to children living in the slums of Mumbai. Both groups are working on the same thing, which is to make education more accessible and generally better for children. Groups or individuals in the U.S. can join the education movement in India by connecting with one or even multiple NGO’s. By piggybacking on their ideas and providing supporting resources, we really can make progress towards education for all. Many of the rural schools in India have poor infrastructure and lack the necessary number of teachers. One way to address this issue is by raising funds and donating the money to organizations working in India to provide access to clean drinking water, toilets, meals, school supplies and to recruit teachers. By volunteering time to create digital literacy in rural schools, donating used computers and laptops, we can improve access to technology.  Sharing our experiences and by teaching the kids how to use digital technology we can help them better prepared for the future. 

Last summer, I had the opportunity to tour and learn about the S.M. Sehgal Foundation (SMSF) in Gurugram, Haryana while visiting my brother who was selected as a World Food Prize intern to conduct research at the foundation.  Traveling with my brother to different villages in Haryana, I got my first taste of rural India. I was inspired by the work he did and what I learned interacting with the employees at the foundation. SMSF, founded in 1999, is an organization I feel closely connected to because of my interactions with staff (in the U.S. and India), knowledge of their goals, and accomplishments. During my visit, I heard about how they were taking education to many rural villages in different parts of India, which was quite fascinating. Only few organizations have achieved this feat. I was quite inspired by the philanthropy of the founders, the employees’ dedication to the mission and the very eco-friendly “green building” that fits to their sustainable environmental practices.  Another organization which is working to improve access to education in India is the North South Foundation (NSF) founded in 1985 in Illinois. For the past 25+ years, they have been working to bring education to the underprivileged youth in India. Both of these organizations, through strong partnerships between the United States and India, have successfully achieved the goal of taking education to those who don’t have access to it. They are excellent models to build on.

India faces several problems today and access to education is one of the major hurdles in its path to development. Education is key to addressing other problems and for driving poverty out of the country. The groups mentioned above and many others have worked very hard to bring education nationwide, but they cannot do it by themselves. As an Indian American, I can help the cause by volunteering my time through partnership with NGO’s who are actively working to address the problem. I would like to learn more about how I can contribute to the cause and wish to engage with other younger Indian Americans to help, shape and support education in rural India.