Kaivalya, a term with roots in Indian spiritual thought, has one of its meanings, ‘freedom from conditioned existence’.
Drawing from this concept, Kaivalya Education Foundation envisions creating public system change by fostering competent and passionate leaders who have the foresight and courage to create large-scale sustainable impact at grassroots.
As a developing nation, Indian education is expected to take 100 years before catching up with the quality of education in other developed nations. Without disruptive action, this 100-year gap will lead to six generations of learners who miss out on achieving their potential.
To bring about this paradigm shift, KEF is committed to addressing/carving/inscribing a gamut of elements in the education ecosystem to ensure no child is left behind.
The Story of our organisation
‘‘Be the change you wish to see in the world’’
- Mahatma Gandhi
Drawing from Gandhiji’s ethics, our theory of change is grounded in self-change. We believe that change happens in self and then in environment.
When we move from idea to action, fear to courage, apathy to empathy, and from cynicism to belief we are able to change our environment and create a better world.
The focus of our programs is grounded in the core philosophy of self-change leading to human revolution. Michael Fullan’s theory of change revolves around this idea and he rests it on two key principles that we apply to the educational system, namely:
It has been extremely heartening to see the fruits of our dreams and action reflect in these numbers – today, in just 10 years, the number of children who do not have access to education has substantially reduced from 85 million to 13 million.
Co-founder & CEO of Pratham
Mr. Ajay G. Piramal is the Chairman of Piramal Group and Shriram Group. The group is known for their combined market cap of USD 13.12 billion and revenue of USD 4.53 billion. Mr. Piramal is an academically acclaimed professional with an Honours Degree in Science from Bombay University. He is also a holder of MBA from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies. He has finished his Advanced Management Programme from Harvard Business School. He also received an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Philosophy (D. Phil) from Amity University, India. He has paramount experience in holding many key positions on the Boards of a plethora of regulatory, academic and professional institutions which includes Harvard Business School’s Board of Dean’s Advisors. The other institutes include non-executive Director of Tata Sons Ltd. He also served as the President and Chairman of the Governing Body of Anant National University and as the Chairman of Pratham Education Foundation. He is a leading industrialist, philanthropist, and social entrepreneur in India.
Madhav Chavan is a well-known social activist and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CEO of Pratham, an educational NGO, which has serviced with humility and concern for underprivileged in rural India. He also introduced the Read India campaign meant specifically for children in need of exposure to education. This is an innovative campaign which aims at teaching the basics of reading, writing, mathematics, and science to underprivileged children across different parts of India. Kravis Prize and the Skoll Award has recognized Pratham for its innovative approach and leadership frontiers. Pratham is considered to be the best social entrepreneurial organization in the area of education. Chavan was the 2012 recipient of the WISE Prize for Education. This has been widely considered to be the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in the field of education. He is a recipient of Leading-Social-Contributor-Award. This is the highest degree award for exemplary work in the area of operation in India. He was also the 2011 recipient of the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship.
Aditya Natraj is the founder and director of Kaivalya Education Foundation (KEF) and the Piramal School of Leadership. KEF supports large scale systemic changes in public education systems in India through leadership development of State, District and School leaders. KEF works with 10,000+ education leaders across 14 states in India – directly affecting the lives of 5 million children across 50,000+ schools. KEF also runs the Gandhi Fellowship programme – a 2 year full-time programme to train young people in leading social change. Previously Aditya was Director of Pratham in Gujrat for 5 years, Vice-President of Business Development at ProXchange for 2 years and a Consultant at KPMG for 5 years. Aditya is a qualified Chartered Accountant, a Masters in Economics and has an MBA from INSEAD. Aditya is an Ashoka Fellow, an Echoing Green Fellow and an Aspen India Fellow. Aditya also serves on the governing board of the Quality Council of India, the Akanksha Foundation and Bridgespan India. Aditya was awarded the Times Now Amazing Indian award in the Education category.
With Kaivalya since 2019
With Kaivalya since 2019
