How it all began

In 1981 during the construction of the Art of Living International Centre in in Udayapura village, Bangalore, His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of 'The Art of Living Foundation' noticed that many small children were staying with their parents who were constructing the center. His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar recognized the need to reach out to these children and thought 'something has to be done for them'. This led to the creation of Ved Vignan Maha Vidya Peeth, a school providing a combination of modern and holistic education to children from rural communities. From the first class of 30 children, the school has grown to more than 2000 students from over 45 surrounding villages who are bused to school every morning. The school caters to children who are the first in their families and communities to ever receive a formal education.

In the early 1990's, this vision expanded into setting up the Sri Sri Vidya Mandir tribal schools. The first tribal school was started in a jungle in 1999, in the Ghatsila Block of Singhbum district in Jharkhand, India, in an area where there is no electricity or paved roads. Today, there are 15 schools in Jharkhand with about 1200 children.

Where is the Care For Children program now

The Care for Children program has grown to include 71 schools in 13 states serving 5750 children in India. This includes 47 rural schools, 21 tribal schools and 3 slum schools. We have also adopted several schools in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and South Africa.

These schools:
- Educate children up to the age of 15 years
- Supply uniforms, shoes, books, writing materials and mid day meals free of cost
- Provide outdoor medical facilities and mobile dispensary
- Train women in useful vocations, and give additional vocational training to unemployed youth in the community.
- Plant trees in tribal school areas, and teach organic farming techniques.

Both the rural and tribal schools build upon a sustainable model of local empowerment, where teachers are recruited from the local population. They are selected through a well-defined procedure, and go through a comprehensive teachers training program. Typically schools established in rural and tribal areas suffer from high student [and teacher] attrition rates.

In Care for Children run schools, however this is not the case. Since our teachers are selected from, and serve their own local communities, the students feel at home, and thus the attendance in the schools is around 95% and 98% teacher retention?

The benefits of this program are numerous. Education itself opens new opportunities for the children, but the holistic approach uniquely offered by Care for Children creates wider community benefits. Basic hygiene education has reduced the incidence of diseases. Parents view the future of their children with home, and the increased self esteem and confidence felt by both the children and their parents. By sharing a classroom, and expanding their awareness through yoga and meditation,harmony among diverse groups cultural and ethnic groups is supported.