PiperByrum18 at 02:17, 31 March 2026

2026-03-31T02:17:28Z

New page

{{Short description|Indian educational organisation}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2015}}
{{Infobox company
| name = '''Agastya International Foundation'''
| area_served = India
| key_people = [[Ramji Raghavan]] (Chairman) Mahavir Kumar (Managing Trustee) [[Rakesh Jhunjhunwala]] Alok Oberoi Dr. [[V. K. Aatre]] H. N. Srihari Adhirath Sethi Vidya Shah Utpal Seth
| industry = [[Education]]
| num_employees = 1500+
| homepage = [http://www.agastya.org/ www.agastya.org]
| foundation = 1999
| location_city = [[Bangalore]]
| location_country = [[India]]
}}

'''Agastya International Foundation '''(Agastya)<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/devanik-saha/agastya-foundation_b_1868723.html | title=Fostering Innovation and Creativity in Rural India: Agastya Foundation | date=12 September 2012 | first=Devanik | last=Saha | work=Huffington Post | access-date=24 August 2018 }}</ref> is an Indian education trust and non-profit organization based in [[Bangalore]], [[India]] whose mission is "to spark curiosity, nurture creativity and instil confidence" among economically disadvantaged children and teachers in India.<ref>[http://forbesindia.com/article/web-special/the-art-of-giving/27402/1 Agastya in Forbes]</ref> A team of scientists, educators, and entrepreneurs led by [[Ramji Raghavan]] founded Agastya in 1999.<ref name="Agastya Reference1">{{cite news |last1=Pulakkat |first1=Hari |title=How Agastya International Foundation is creating tomorrow's leaders in rural India |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/education/how-agastya-international-foundation-is-creating-tomorrows-leaders-in-rural-india/articleshow/50513945.cms?from=mdr |access-date=3 March 2021 |publisher=The Economic Times |date=10 January 2016}}</ref> Agastya's founders include the late K.V. Raghavan, former chairman of Engineers India Limited and Dr. P.K. Iyengar, former chairman of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission. Agastya runs hands-on science and art education programs in rural, semi-urban, and urban regions across 19 Indian states. It is one of the world's largest mobile and hands-on science education programs catering to economically disadvantaged children and public-school teachers.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.educationworldonline.net/index.php/page-article-choice-more-id-3091 |title=Education World Article |access-date=27 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527112420/http://www.educationworldonline.net/index.php/page-article-choice-more-id-3091 |archive-date=27 May 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Programs ==

=== Campus Creativity Lab ===

Agastya has a "Campus Creativity Lab" located on a 172-acre campus in [[Kuppam]], Andhra Pradesh.<ref name="Agastya Reference1" /><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://thewip.net/contributors/2013/07/agastya_science_center_educati.html |title=Agastya Science Center: Education and Hope from a Fountain of Knowledge |access-date=12 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921011745/http://thewip.net/contributors/2013/07/agastya_science_center_educati.html |archive-date=21 September 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It houses science and art centers, including among other labs an astronomy center, a planetarium, a center for creative teaching, an innovation hub, a science model-making center, and the [[Ramanujan Math Park]], an open-air ecology lab. The school has 800 teachers and 280 night school volunteers.<ref name="Agastya Reference1" /> The campus welcomes over 650 children every day from 8 to 10 schools,<ref name="Agastya Reference1" /> additionally, teachers from seven Indian states are trained here.<ref>{{Cite web|title='Agastya Foundation' - A Knowledge Hub For Village Students: ETV Report|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBcwaA8EyLU |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/SBcwaA8EyLU |archive-date=2021-12-15 |url-status=live|access-date=2017-12-19|website=YouTube|language=en}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

The school has cumulatively reached over eight million with around 1.5 million children every year apart from 2.5 million teachers.<ref name="Agastya Reference1" /> In 2016, the school had a ₹300 million ($4.1 million) annual budget, 850 employees, 138 mobile lab-vans, 50 labs on bikes, and 60 science centers spread around the 172-acre main campus in Kuppam.<ref name="Agastya Reference1" />

=== Other educational programs ===

Agastya's programs across India are also delivered by over 190 Mobile Lab and iMobile Lab Vans, 90 Lab-on-Bikes and TechLaBikes, 100 Science Centers, and nearly 700 night village school centers. It has trained over 30,000 Young Instructor Leaders (peer-to-peer teachers). Through its Young Instructor Leader (YIL) program begun in 2007, the foundation promotes and nurtures children of exceptional ability to learn.<ref name="Agastya Reference1" /> The program became a game-changer for many students, for example by teaching children to boost their organizational prowess and develop their decision-making skills. It also has encouraged many students to overcome stage fright.<ref name="Agastya Reference1" />

The foundation operates mobile labs that cover village schools in and around the district, thereby enabling children to perform experiments by themselves.<ref name="Agastya Reference1" /> As of January 2020, Agastya has directly reached over 12 million children (50% girls) and 250,000 teachers from vulnerable and economically disadvantaged communities. As a charitable trust, Agastya is funded by Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) engagement and donations, governmental funding, and individual donations. In 2010, Agastya signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Karnataka state government to establish core science activity centers in five districts in north Karnataka.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.agastya.org/who/who-helps-us/who-are-our-partners|title=Agastya International Foundation {{!}} Who Are Our Partners|website=www.agastya.org|language=en-US|access-date=2017-12-19}}</ref> The foundation conducted a science fair in Bihar in 2012 which reached out to 24,000 students and 1,100 teachers through a bequest of the Late Mr. [[Abdul Kalam]] (Ex-President of India) to sponsor a program in [[Bihar]].<ref name="Agastya Reference1" />

One of the organization's central aims is to develop student curiosity in the world around them and to launch them on a path of lifetime discovery and understanding.<ref name="Agastya Reference1" />

==Activities==
As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak (2020) Agastya has provided online training for public school teachers in over 15 states, and has helped students set up science labs at home.<ref>{{cite news |title=Agastya helps govt school students set up science labs at home |url=https://www.livemint.com/news/india/1-million-govt-schoolchildren-learn-to-do-science-experiments-at-home-11594043365845.html |work=Livemint |date=6 July 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

==Awards and recognitions==

Agastya won the Google Global Impact Award in 2013<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://impactchallenge.withgoogle.com/india2013/charities/agastya|title='Google.org Impact Challenge India 2013|website=withgoogle|language=en}}</ref> and was ranked among the top 100 global innovators by The Rockefeller Foundation Next Century Awards.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.opportunitiesforafricans.com/the-rockefeller-foundation-next-century-innovators-awards-usd100000-prize/|title='THE ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION NEXT CENTURY INNOVATORS AWARDS|website=opportunitiesforafricans|language=en}}</ref> In 2016, Agastya's founder Ramji Raghavan received the Deshpande Foundation's Sandbox Catalyst Award from Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus and the Innovation for India Award from the Marico Innovation Foundation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chinadailyhk.com/articles/20/214/244/1525749307767.html|title='Aha moments|website=chinadailyhk|language=en}}</ref>

In 2019 Agastya received an Andhra Pradesh State Green Award for its work to regenerate the ecosystem of its 172-acre campus, which is documented in the book, 'The Roots of Creativity'.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://issuu.com/agastyasparks/docs/final_ecology_book|title='The Roots of Creativity- Ecology at Agastya by Agastya International Foundation - Issuu|website=issuu|language=en}}</ref> In 2020, Agastya was featured in the book, 'Seven Sutras of Innovation' by Nikhil Inamdar, as one of eight organizations in India that as "start-ups to scale-ups are transforming India". As the organization's efforts have gained recognition around the world, it has been approached by well-known educational organizations for experiments in educational innovation.<ref name="Agastya Reference1" /> The project-based learning program, for example, was started by Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in Massachusetts with Agastya.<ref name="Agastya Reference1" />

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.agastya.org/ Official website]

{{Indian non-profit}}

[[Category:Foundations based in India]]
[[Category:Organisations based in Bengaluru]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1999]]
[[Category:Educational organisations based in India]]
[[Category:1999 establishments in Karnataka]]
[[Category:Non-profit organisations based in India]]
[[Category:Charities based in India]]

Agastya International Foundation - Revision history

PiperByrum18 at 02:17, 31 March 2026