The Nataraja Foundation was initially set up to promote Indias largest Mass Education Project The Indian Education Megaproject .

The Mega-Project will set up 30,000 New Schools across 28 Indian States and 7 Union Territories by 2023 and make it possible to provide high quality education , totally free of cost to 126 Million Children. This is primarily a rural initiative as 80 % of the facilities will be set up in Rural India and in the most backward states. Besides setting up 30,000 New Schools, the project will implement a massive teacher sharing programme that will assist 4,20,000 ( 4.2 Lakh ) existing government schools. A unique financing mechanism / structure will raise approximately Rs 6 Lakh Crores through 14 different sources of finance to provide the financial resources, without taking a single paise from the government of India or from any state government.  All that the Govt. has to do is to provide legislative support and help finance just 70 Pilot projects ( 2 in each state / union territory ) before mass project rollout.

Visitors are encouraged to download the project including is financial and Legal structure and its unique design basis philosophy which together make this project superior to any other educational initiative every submitted to the Government of Independent India.

1.Latest Communications with Govt. Of India ( May – June 2011 )

• Education Mega Project Inclusion in XIIth Plan May 2011
• Education Megaproject – List of Recipients – May 2011
• Education Megaproject Senior Responses March 2011
• Education Megaproject – Letter to Member Education – Dec 2010
• Education Megaproject –Structuring and Financing Concepts

2. The Indian Primary and Secondary Education Megaproject - Submitted to the NKC , Govt. Of India - 2^nd April 2010

• Indian Education Megaproject - Presentation
• Cover Letter to Shri Kapil Sibal (Minister of HRD, Govt Of India) - April 2^nd 2010
• Education Mega Project Concept Document Rev 03 2^nd April 2010
• Education Megaproject - Legal & Financial Structure
• Education Megaproject - Excel Masterfile with all calculations
• Project Philosophy - Project Design Basis Document
• Relevant precedent for removal of restrictive regulations
• The RTE Act 2009 ... Notified Bare Act

The defining characteristic of this project is its teacher centric design which is unique and will make it possible to provide high quality education to upto 126 Million children free of cost and without any need for funding by the Government of India or for donor money.

Note :
Readers may please note that Rev 01 of the project was sent to the National Knowledge Commission in April 2009 and Rev 02 was sent to the Minister of HRD in Oct 2009. The current revision ( Rev 03 ) however is a clear generation ahead of its predecessors. To avoid any confusion with earlier revisions we are providing only the latest revision of the project.

Pilot Projects

To provide proof of concept the Nataraja Foundation is in the process of planning and setting up a Pilot Project consisting of the following facilities :

1. A Rural Teachers Training Institute

2. A Rural education hub that will assist 14 other schools in its area

3. A Masons training institute for training in traditional construction and architecture

One of the primary objectives of the trust is to change the way we look at the teaching profession and at teachers in India. The Foundation will work to foster excellence in teaching at the rural taluka and district level by providing elegant teachers training institutes where facilities for teachers will be best in class . We will also have teacher exchange programmes with the objective of bringing the best teaching practices to village schools.

Since the Education Megaproject is large, its Pilot project will also necessarily be large. We therefore will be working to get the government to agree to set up two pilot projects in each state of the country based on a teacher centric approach to education. Setting up of these model schools is vital for testing the concepts underlying a teacher centric education system which seeks to engineer a massive shift of the best minds and people with the right value systems from other professions to a career in teaching. These pilot projects will help crucially in ironing out any glitches in the concept of sharing teaching resources before the concept is rapidly replicated in newly built 24500 day schools and 4500 residential schools, all over India, between 2012 and 2023.

The pilot projects will also, most importantly , serve as training centers for masons skilled in vernacular and low cost, yet elegant construction techniques based on locally available building materials. The Megaproject needs a very large supply of specially trained masons and these people need to be ready in time for deployment so that the project meets its very tight and fast paced delivery and commissioning schedules.