Our Work
A community-led model of Adivasi education
Our three core programmes work together to build opportunities for learning, leadership and community development, rooted in the belief that learning happens in relationships.
Shaping futures, staying rooted Model Adivasi-led School
The Vidyodaya Adivasi School is a nursery and primary school that has worked for over thirty years to create a culturally rooted, contextually relevant learning environment for Adivasi children.
Explore Teachers at the heart of learning Teacher Education
Teachers are at the heart of any meaningful education.
Explore Reclaiming the village as a place of learning Community Education Program
Our work is grounded in the belief that strong, community-led support systems can transform children’s education, enrich their lives, and strengthen community ownership over learning..
Explore
Where we work
Vidyodaya works with Adivasi communities living along the forest fringes of the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve, in and around Gudalur.
20,000+ highly marginalised PVTG population
- 320 villages
- 725 sq km
- Heavy rainfall
Our impact
Three decades of change, led by the community
Real change begins with one child, held by a community that has decided to back her. Thirty years on, here is what that has built.
Adivasi children supported across the villages today
alumni now teachers, nurses, doctors, researchers and leaders
young people in college, from almost none a generation ago
resource teachers trained from within the community
The challenge, and the change
Only one in three Adivasi children once reached Class 10
For generations, distance, language and discrimination pushed Adivasi children out of school. By walking with families village by village, that story is changing, in step with the national goal of quality education for every child and the United Nations goal for inclusive education.
Children dropping out of school
And still falling, year on year.
What has changed
An education the community owns
- An Adivasi teacher now leads the school as principal
- Three times as many children stay in school past Class 10
- Both the Chief Functionary and the Managing Trustee are from the community
- Children’s magazines and learning materials published in Adivasi languages
Recognition
Honoured at the highest levels
Vidyodaya’s alumni have been honoured at the highest levels, a recognition of the whole community’s journey through education.
- Alumni received by Droupadi Murmu, President of India
- Honoured by King Charles III of the United Kingdom, 2023
The road ahead
From here, further
learners we aim to reach over the next twenty years through Vidyodaya 2.0
community teachers we are working to train and place in local schools
Every programme runs on people who care
A scholarship, a hostel place, a teacher trained from within the village. Each one begins with a gift.