Walk into rural government schools, and you will often find a number of the teachers ‘absent’ from the classroom. In fact, according to Pratham’s ASER study, before the pandemic, approximately 30%, or roughly one in three teachers, were found to be absent on any given day in rural areas. The cost of this? Teacher absence in India in 2019-20 cost the country approximately Rs. 333.97 billion (USD 4.6 billion)*. However, the cost to children is much higher - the loss of their education and future potential.

The inspiring stories of Ambuja Foundation’s beneficiaries have been captured in a stunning coffee table book format – highlighting their perseverance and ‘unstoppable’ drive in pursuing their livelihoods and passions.

Many of us assume that higher classes and board examinations are the only critical parts of a child’s education journey. However, this assumption couldn’t be further from the truth. It is the early school years, between the ages 3-8 years, which are the most important, as this is where core foundational skills such as ‘reading’ are developed – and without them firmly in place, children flounder as they progress through school.

When COVID-19 closed the doors of his classroom in 2020, Giridhar Panghate hadto think outside the box to reach, and teach, his students. What started as a WhatsApp group of 3-4 students, swelled to 6000 students on Zoom, when Giridhar tried his hand at making educational videos and lvie streaming in classes.

When the lockdown of 2020 was relaxed and support staff returned to the AMK campus, they found it in complete disarray. The 2.8 acre campus and sprawling gardens were a mess – a far cry from the clean, manicured gardens AMK usually sports.

Ambuja Foundation is harnessing the power of the multiplier effect by training PT teachers and empowering them to impart sports and physical education to hundreds of students across Himachal Pradesh. After a successful pilot, they now plan to replicate and roll out the 'train the trainer' model across an additional 50 schools from 5 locations in 2021.

Harishchandra comes from a farming family, but from the time he first set foot in a classroom, he has had a passion for Education.

The 2019/20 Annual Report was launched in September, highlighting the achievements of the Foundation over the last 12months, and once again an e-version of the report was distributed online to all key stakeholders.

Health and Safety (H&S) is of great importance at Ambuja Foundation and across programmes, H&S is carefully adhered to. Ambuja Manovikas Kendra, a school in Ropar, Punjab that caters to children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities, takes H&S seriously going over and above basic requirements (like wheelchairs, ramps and railings) to ensure health and safety is taken care at the institute:

Anagha Mahajani - GM, Program Research & Monitoring at Ambuja Foundation has over 25 years' experience in the development sector and is a qualified management and research practitioner with publications to her credit.

Unable to sit properly, walk or feed herself, Arshpreet's future looked grim.

Five schools from Golapur, Bhoyegaon, Nandappa, Punagada and Markgondi in Chandrapur kick-started their Children's Day celebration with a month-long series of handicraft workshops.