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Projects
The focus of the Nataraja foundation is basic primary and secondary education.
India currently has a massive shortage in educational infrastructure and we need 400,000 schools on a yesterday basis to accommodate in excess of 120 million children who are out of school. In addition , out of the total population of 1200 million citizens , some 400 million people cannot really be considered literate. About half of all adolescent girls for instance are unable to read and write. This huge mass of people face an uncertain future and will have very low incomes as their illiteracy may become a lifelong handicap. The huge income disparities that this will create will lead to increased social tension and lawlessness that could threaten the very fabric of our society. Urgent action is therefore required.
The Nataraja foundation is very keen to help bridge the massive demand - supply gap in the area of education. To this end we have designed " The Primary and Secondary Education Megaproject " as a national solution to the huge problem that India faces in education.
1. The Indian Primary and Secondary Education Megaproject
The problem that India faces today, especially in education, cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created it over the last several decades.
The documents available on the links below describe a massive and ambitious project. Visitors are encouraged to download the project including is financial and Legal structure, the financials and its unique design basis philosophy which is possibly superior to any other.
1. The Indian Primary and Secondary Education Megaproject - Submitted to the NKC , Govt. Of India - 24th April ‘ 2009
The defining characteristic of this project is its financial structure which is unique and which will make it possible for high quality education to be potentially provided to 126 Million children free of cost and without any need for funding by the Government of India or for donor money.
2. Rural Teachers Training Institutes Project
One of the primary objectives of the trust is to change the way we look at the teaching profession and at teachers in India. There is a need to restore the teacher at the top of the social hierarchy, a position which is rightly his. This has been a fundamental part of Indian culture for thousands of years and this tradition needs to be brought back. The Nataraja Foundation is very keen to institute a programme aimed at fostering excellence in teaching at the rural district and taluka level by providing :
Low cost yet elegant Teachers Training Institutes in Rural Areas Opportunities to improve teaching skills through seminars / short term courses and teacher exchange programmes with the objective of bringing the best teaching practices to village schools.
3. The Model / Pilot School Project
The Nataraja foundation is interested in setting up Pilot projects , one in each state of the country based on its 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, over the next ten years.
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.
The Nataraja foundation is dedicated to these projects and we seek the help and support of all those who want to make this happen.
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