Parikrma Humanity Foundation

Parikrma Humanity Foundation

Founded	2003[1]
Founder	Shukla Bose [2]
Type	Humanitarian Foundation
Location	Bangalore, India
Area served	Bangalore
Website	Parikrma Humanity Foundation

Parikrma Humanity Foundation is a non-profit organization located in Bangalore, India.^[3] Parikrma addresses the growing gap in urban India between those benefitting from economic liberalization and those who are not, in which consequently only a minority of children in India can afford access to private schools where the content of education is of high quality and in the English medium. Children from slum and rural communities attend schools in the free government-run mass schooling system, where they only teach in the state language, which often proves insufficient in attaining job opportunities in a rapidly globalizing world. Parikrma believes that even the poorest children from the slums of urban India should be able to access the best opportunities in our globalized society and play a positive role in its evolution.^[4]

The name Parikrma comes from a combination of two Sanskrit words, “pari” meaning circle, and “krma” meaning to complete. Parikrma strives to complete “The Circle of Life” by supporting children from kindergarten until they procure a job, thus ensuring that their students break out of the cycle of poverty.

Now in its 11th year, Parikrma runs 4 Centres for Learning and a Junior College for 1566 children from 69 slum communities and 4 orphanages in Bangalore. Parikrma is a nondenominational nonprofit that does not discriminate on the basis of caste, creed, or religion.

History

Parikrma was founded in 2003 by Shukla Bose, who left at the peak of her career as a CEO in the hospitality industry with 26 years of experience.

In order to establish Parikrma, she and her team personally visited numerous slum communities in order to understand the need and context of poverty in Bangalore, as well as to identify children who would potentially never have the opportunity to attend school, and convincing their parents that education could bring about positive change in their children’s lives. She realized that the reason that children from slum communities dropped out of school at an early age was not due to a lack of interest in education but rather due to difficult circumstances such as malnutrition, dysfunctional home environments, financial constraints, etc.

The first Parikrma school began June 2, 2003 on a space rented on the rooftop of a Tamil-medium school with 165 students and 11 staff members.

Mission, Vision, Motto

Parikrma’s mission is to unleash the potential of under-served children which will provide them with equal opportunities and make them valuable contributing members of society.

Their motto is “Love, Explore, Excel”,^[5] which focuses on the importance of:

• Loving oneself, family, friends, neighbors, the environment and life.
• Exploration through imagination, curiosity, creativity, cutting-edge knowledge and dreams.
• Excelling by striving for the best, taking on challenges and reaching out higher.

Parikrma’s vision is to create a sustainable model and a clear way for underserved children to transform their lives through top-class education, and in the process become a catalyst for effecting fundamental change in the way the poor and marginalized are educated.^[6]

Educational Philosophy

Parikrma’s educational philosophy rests on “The Four Pillars”:^[7]

• Empowering children by imparting superior knowledge, mental and physical skills, and good values
• Providing real-life experience and enhancing useful life-skills
• Self-expression through art, music, dance, and other creative forms
• Exposure to a wide range of knowledge, viewpoints, activities, etc.

Academic Focus and Programs

Parikrma has adopted the CBSE English curriculum, built around the concept of understanding and making learning fun and experiential.

Parikrma operates on a 360-degree development model, supporting various aspects of a child’s life. They provide three meals a day, comprehensive healthcare including regular health check-ups, immunizations, and counseling, and community support for parents, including de-addiction programs, women’s empowerment, wellness workshops, vocational skills, etc.^[8]

Parikrma also believes in an end-to-end (e2e) model in which they look after a child from kindergarten until they are placed in a job, ensuring that they break out of a cycle of poverty, which they call completing “the Circle of Life.” Their Final Leap program aids a student in choosing the right professional course which matches their strengths and interests, or provides scholarships to pursue college or vocational training.^[9] Their Last Mile program provides a professional mentor while students acclimate to their first year in the workplace.

The Parikrma Edge

Parikrma schools boast 96% attendance, which is one of the highest in the country, with less than a 1% dropout rate. 98% of students go on to pursue a college education.

A key factor in the success of Parikrma’s model is establishing English language excellence. In order to accomplish this, Parikrma has an “English First” program in which teachers take the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and children enrolled in Parikrma begin with a unique 3-month English program that enables them to grasp the rudiments of the language and lay a foundation for English-medium learning.

The Universe to You (Universe2U) is a science program crucial in providing a basis for the capacity for rational enquiry at Parikrma.

Furthermore, sport is an integral co-curricular activity. At the basic level, they provide a physical training program that helps all children develop their motor skills and improve their physical conditioning. The United Parikrma Sports Program identifies talented children who are further trained in football, athletics and taekwondo, providing them an opportunity to compete at the highest levels. Parikrma also organizes a yearly, under-16 inter-school football tournament called the Parikrma Champions League (PCL).

The honing of aesthetic sense, be it music, dance, theater or art, is also something that is taken extremely seriously at Parikrma. Art is seen as an essential method in which children can express themselves.

Alumni

In its 11th year of operations, the first batch of Parikrma's students are now pursuing higher education and beginning to enter the workforce. Alumni from Parikrma are studying at various universities in Bangalore, such as the MR Ambedkar Dental College, National Law School of India University, KLE Law College, and M. S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology. They have also pursued jobs such as a dialysis therapist at Manipal Teaching Hospital, a software engineer at Cisco Systems, and as an assistant chef at the Hilton Hotel in Bangalore.

Expansion and Scale

Parikrma avoids playing into the numbers game, which is tempting when looking at the millions of children who do not attend school in India. Instead of looking at horizontal expansion, they focus on quality and depth of change. They strive to be a thought leader in education, and therefore their Educational Transformation Centre (ETC) works to spread their model by doing the following:

• Training teachers from government schools and low-cost private English schools in delivering the Parikrma Model
• Training social workers in managing expectations of parents and their communities
• Providing leadership training to administrators of schools
• Commitment to continuous pedagogy research to make education relevant and contemporary

The ETC will be managed as a stand-alone entity with a separate team headed by a director with experience in the area of leadership and teacher training. The funding for running the various programs of the ETC will come from donors as well as fees from the actual training programs. Parikrma believes this will be a way to replicate their successes by sharing best practices and making a larger impact within India’s government mass schooling system.^[10]

The ETC began its operations in July, 2014. Teachers from 200 government schools are being trained and mentored to bring about change in the state education system, and Parikrma's goal is to influence 60,000 children through its Centres as well as the ETC.

Accolades

• Derozio Award Excellence in Human Enrichment and Education
• Governor’s Award for Exemplary Social Work, 2007

References