The organisation was founded on the belief that quality education is the undeniable right of every child and that children should not be deprived of this just because they do not have access to it or the resources to realise their dreams. We believe that the use of technology and shared digital infrastructure has become more relevant now than ever and that it is important to leverage their combined power to impart education to all children. The focus has to be on blended models that can accelerate conventional learning through accessible technology-based innovations for teachers and children.
Akshara Foundation was established as a Public Charitable Trust in March, 2000.
It was conceived as a tripartite partnership between the government, corporate sector and the voluntary sector.
We have impacted the lives of over 7 million children in the states of Karnataka, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
2000
Akshara Foundation was set up as a Public Charitable Trust
2003
Akshara sets up independent Early Childhood Development (ECB) centres and provides training to 400 women , to become edupreneurs’
2003
Akshara extends its programmes to the underdeveloped districts in North Karnataka
2006
Implemented Oduve Naanu, a Remedial Reading Programme for 70,000 children across 1,425 schools in Bangalore
2006
Akshara initiates Karnataka Learning Partnership (KLP), a public technology platform and community-driven change maker for our elementary schooling system
2007
Akshara’s School Library Programme implemented in 1,425 schools across Bangalore, impacting 2,15,000 children
2007
Large-scale ECD implementation in 2,500 centres across Bangalore, Dharwad and Malur, covering 70,000 children
2008
The Karnataka government rolls out Oduve Naanu reading programme to 46,000 schools across the state
2010
Akshara Ganitha, a support Math programme rolled out in the Sandbox – 49,000 children from 620 schools in three blocks of Karnataka
2011
Swalpa English Thumba Fun, aimed at supporting spoken English competencies introduced in Sandbox
2015
Ganitha Kalika Andolana (GKA) with a goal to impact 2 million children begins with phase-1 in 6 districts Yadgir, Bellary, Kalaburagi, Bidar, Raichur and Koppal.
2016
Akshara begins building sustainability of GKA with Community Interventions – facilitated Math contests at the Gram Panchayat level.
2016
Built a cadre of Village Education Volunteers to energize the school system and enlighten communities. Over 9,000 volunteers till date
2017
GKA Phase-2 rolls out in 6 additional districts. Bengaluru Rural, Chamarajanagara, Chitradurga, Chikkaballapura, Dharwad and Gadag.
2017
GKA piloted in 2 districts of Odisha – Bolangir and Rayagada
2017
1-3-6-9 Wall Writings in every village making the community aware of meetings they need to attend, to monitor quality of education being imparted
2018
Building Blocks, a FREE learning app was launched on Google Play Store.
2019
GKA Phase-3 rolls out in remaining districts of Karnataka. Odisha and Akshara sign MoU for GKA to be rolled out in 20 additional districts.
2019
All Gram Panchayat Presidents in Karnataka are given a class-wise, school-wise report on performance levels of children who participated in the GP contests
2019
GP Contests are completely community driven. Phase 1 alone saw ~1000GP contests
2019
Building Blocks available on MHRD’s Diksha Platform and to be accessible via QR codes in textbooks across Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha and Tamil Nadu
2020
20 Years of Akshara Foundation
2020
Digitised ~25 hours of Teaching-learning content into small video modules, in 7 languages. Available ok Diksha and YT
2020
Launched a podcast for teachers and Education Department officials to share and learn from positive stories on classroom innovations
2020
Piloted two small projects that emphasize Blended Learning and aim to bridge the learning gap, with access to EdTech
2021
Power of Education Volunteers – our army of volunteers on the ground facilitated 51,00,000+ COVID vaccinations in 95 blocks of 22 districts across Karnataka.
2022
Extended the Building Blocks learning app to include games for grade 6
2022
GKA to be further scaled up to benefit children in grades 6, 7 and 8. First pilot in Bangalore across ~100 schools.
2022
Blended Learning takes a bigger spin with a 3rd pilot being implemented in Keonjhar. Government agrees to scale it to impact 20,000 children
2023
Restarted India’s Biggest Community-led Maths Contests in Karnataka and Odisha – spearheaded by thousands of education volunteers and team leaders
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