GURUDAKSHINA FOUNDATION TRUST®
Teacher Empowerment Program
॥गुरुः तु दीपवत् मार्गनिर्देशकः॥
The teacher is like a lamp
that lights up the path
Gurudakshina with a motto गुरोर्हितं मम करणीयम् humbly
plunges into the promotion of teachers’ well-being. We aim to create
self-sufficiency in teachers,
because teachers make students self-sustaining. In this teacher empowerment program, the teacher becomes personally vibrant and
professionally productive. Simply, a teacher becomes a better teacher.
Background:
Gurudakshina Foundation Trust is the brain child of a
number of individuals who want to give something valuable back to society. The
focus is on the education sector, specifically the primary education sector. Also,
the focus is to work in rural areas and to the extent possible not in the major metro
centres.
Philosophy:
There are initiatives that are underway in the primary
education sector and a number of individuals and organizations are already
doing exemplary work. The philosophy of Gurudakshina Foundation Trust is to
work with other organizations and make them stronger rather than “re-invent the
wheel”.
Area of
Focus:
Within the area of primary education, Gurudakshina
Foundation Trust is focused on the teacher, as there is no doubt that the
teacher is the pivot on which the entire edifice of the education system rests.
If we do not take care of teachers, they cannot take care of education.
While it is important for educational institutions to
have good infrastructure for learning, what is more important is the teacher, it
is clear that a great teacher does not really need any infrastructure to impact
on students. The teacher is the key.
Everything else is an aid.
Gurudakshina Foundation Trust’s
Operating Model:
1.
Identify
a school to work with and adopt the school
2.
Evaluate
the current average salary of the teachers of the school
3.
Identify
a target average salary for the teachers in the local area
4.
Help
the school reach the target average salary in about 5-7 years. This would help
the school in getting the best of the teaching talent in the local area
5.
Once
the best teaching talent is available in our adopted school, demand for
education in the school increases
6.
The
school can then charge “market tuition fee” and ensure that the school runs on
a strong economically viable foundation
7.
The
school can also include “subsidization” of tuition fee for the economically and
socially backward within this “market fee structure”
8.
Gurudakshina
Foundation Trust exits the school as the school is economically independent
9.
Gurudakshina
Foundation Trust would also like to extend this to individuals. In this case,
the individuals would have to be strong, academically oriented individuals who
do not have the necessary economic strength to pursue a career in academics. Gurudakshina
Foundation Trust would support them completely in their pursuit of an academic
career. However, in return, we would want them to teach in one of our adopted
schools. What this achieves is that we are able to support one individual but
at the same time, that one academically oriented individual would be a teacher
in our adopted school, thus helping hundreds of students in the school
10. Get external faculty who can train the existing
teachers in pedagogic skills to make them better teachers
Activities
of the Gurudakshina Foundation Trust:
It took almost a year for the members of the trust to
identify a school to work with. We encountered a number of problems in
identifying the school. We found that the management of some schools were
totally focused on “money making” and hence did not want to support them.
Surprisingly, we found resistance in schools run by
well-known charitable institutions. These institutions wanted our money but did
not want us to impose our conditions on them. We had to reject these
institutions as well.
We were able to finally locate one school in Devadurga
Taluk of Raichur District. The school is run by a trust and on the basis of our
due diligence we were convinced that the trust was not in this for profit-making,
but for service.
We found that the average salary of the teachers was
just 1400 INR. Starting from the academic year 2012-13, we have increased the
salary of all the teachers by 500 INR. We have consistently paid the amount
without fail.
We also conducted a training program for the teachers
of the school. This program was conducted by people adept in that sphere, for a
period of three days and cost us 15000 INR.
In addition, we have been working on putting systems
in place to ensure that we do not falter when we scale. In particular, we are focusing on the
following:
1.
Developing
necessary IT systems to ensure contributions are properly accounted for
2.
Developing
a methodology to evaluate the program.
In particular, we want to answer the question: “Does increasing teacher
salaries necessarily improve the education standards of the school?”
3.
Developing
a Knowledge hub
4.
Developing
criteria to adopt schools
5.
Developing
a process to identify individuals who can be part of the program
Contact:
Madhava: +919980999535 madhava@guru-dakshina.org
Pradeep: +919945442300 pradeep@guru-dakshina.org
Swaroop: +919742164232 swaroopsharman@guru-dakshina.org
Contact details of the school we are currently working:
Sachin Dotihal -
+919900144490, +919341993046
Principal and
Administrator, Vagdevi Vidya Mandira
Basaveshwara
Oni, Devadurga, Raichur, Karnataka - 584111
Kindly contribute generously
Ø Cheque- may be drawn in favor of “Gurudakshina Foundation
Trust”
Ø Money
Transfer – Gurudakshina
Foundation Trust, A/C No. – 005305008869, IFSC Code ICIC0000053, Savings Bank
Account, ICICI Bank, Jayanagar Branch, Bangalore
All the donations to
Gurudakshina Foundation Trust are 100% tax exempted under section
80-G
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