Akshar Foundation Information

At Akshar Foundation, our mission is the eradication of poverty through education. We work to spread the Akshar Education Model, developed at the Akshar Forum Model School in Assam, in government schools across India and the world. The model draws from an ancient Indian tradition of holistic education, rooted in Mahatma Gandhi's Nai Talim philosophy of learning by doing. This vision was first set by our Founder, Dr. Alaka Sarma, and carried into a working model by Co-founders Parmita Sarma and Mazin Mukhtar. Today, the model runs in 87 government schools across Assam, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh, empowering over 1,200 teachers, supporting over 18,000 students, and touching more than 70,000 lives. The model transforms government schools into sustainable communities that teach underprivileged students how to earn a living, start a business, initiate development work, and heal their environment. We believe basic needs must be met before a person can escape cyclic, systemic poverty. So rather than depend on charity, our students earn what they need, through the principle of Learning and Earning. Akshar functions as a school, employment agency, business incubator, and development agency, all at once. Our work has been recognized by the Prime Minister of India, the World Economic Forum, and the United Nations. Much of what we had already been practicing at Akshar Forum found its way into India's National Education Policy in 2020, opening the door to scale our model nationwide. Our vision is a world where every government school guides each child toward a high-skill profession and houses enterprises, recycling centers, animal shelters, and solar plants that meet real, local needs. This is a brief overview of Akshar Foundation, believing education isn't just meant to inform a child. It's meant to employ them, and through them, uplift the community they come from. Visit our website to know more.