Ekal Vidyalaya

Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation

The Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation Logo
Abbreviation	EVF
Motto	A People's Movement
Formation	1986
Type	Volunteer organisation
Purpose	Education and primary health in tribal and rural India
Headquarters	New Delhi, India. Houston, USA
Location	India, United States
Region served	India
Website	www.ekal.org

The Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation (literally Foundation of Solo Schools) is a non-profit organization involved in education and village development in rural areas and tribal villages of India. It is the largest grassroots, non-government education initiative in India with presence in 51,717 villages providing free education to more than one million children. The foundation's model of operation is single-teacher schools, with the premise of "Ek Shikshak, Ek Vidyalaya" meaning "one teacher for every school." The individual schools, known as Ekal Vidyalayas, have local teachers who teach in the regional language using various modes like story-telling, folk dramas, and folk songs. The schools also impart moral education, health care education and organic farming techniques.

Tata Dhan Academy with Professor Seshadri of the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore recently performed social impact study praised EKAL schools for providing holistic education to children in remote villages.

EVF is actively involved in fund-raising activities in several countries outside India, most notably the United States. The foundation's mission is to open 100,000 schools and eradicate illiteracy from rural and tribal India by 2015. A March 2003 report named A Factual Response to the Hate Attack on the India Development and Relief Fund (IDRF) states that several authors, state governments and social organisations have praised EVF's role in bringing literacy and empowerment to millions of children in rural and tribal areas of India. EVF is associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

The Ekal Vidyalaya schools were assisted by the NDA Government from 1999–2000 onwards. This was stopped in 2005 by the UPA Government when one of its committees reported irregularities and pursuit of anti-minority agenda in some schools. Critics of EVF have said that the schools pursue a Hindu-nationalist agenda and generate hatred towards minorities. According to A Factual Response to the Hate Attack on the India Development and Relief Fund (IDRF), supporters of EVF have stated that the schools do not teach hate, and that they themselves have been the target of a campaign by media and academic networks.

The Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation (EVF) was established in 1986 by Rakesh Popli, a US-returned Indian nuclear scientist, and his wife Rama Popli, a child education specialist. The couple established the foundation's first single-teacher school in Gumla in Jharkhand (then a part of Bihar). The movement was successful within two years and, in 1989, 60 single-teacher schools were started simultaneously in Dhanbad. By 1995–1996, the foundation was running 1,200 schools in Jharkhand. In the 1990s, global support networks were established. The Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of India was officially registered in 2000 and the EVF-USA was registered soon after.