About Us

Ekal runs over 90,000 schools that help educate 2.6 million children in tribal and rural areas of India

About Ekal Vidyalaya

Ekal Canada is a registered Canadian charity / non-profit organization engaged in the education of tribal, indigenous children in rural India and Nepal. It is the largest grassroots movement of its kind in the world. Ekal Canada has zero administrative cost due to generous donation support from Narendra and Hardip Shah Foundation/Shah Financial Planning Inc. This means 100% of the proceeds from your donations go towards Ekal’s programs.

Ekal’s mission is the holistic development of villages through basic education, digital literacy, skill development, health awareness, modern sustainable agricultural practices and rural entrepreneurship. The vision of Ekal Vidyalaya (single teacher schools) is to facilitate the process of empowering communities based on the concept of social, economic and gender equality.

The Ekal movement aims to eradicate illiteracy from tribal areas of India and Nepal through rural development based on the criteria of equality, diversity and inclusion across all sections of society.

Adopt one village to provide Education and Telemedicine with a donation of CAD $1,200. You can also sponsor a school for CAD $500. Ekal has Chapters in all major cities in Canada. Please contact your Chapter Chair listed in Contact Us for additional information about Ekal, upcoming events or about donations.

Who We Are

Ekal was registered as an Ontario Corporation in 2006 and the Canadian charitable status was obtained a year later under the leadership of Mr. Ravi Verma. It issues tax-deductible charitable donation receipts. Ekal Canada works in close liaison with and support from the Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of USA and the Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of India. Ekal India is a lead organization among others, viz. Friends of Tribal Society; Bharat Lok Shiksha Parishad and Ekal Sansthan.

The purpose of the Ekal Vidyalaya movement is all-round development in rural areas, primarily in the remote and tribal parts of India and the developing neighboring countries. The main focus is on education. It is the largest non-government organization engaged in the education of the poorest of the poor in the world. Along with education, primary health (Arogya) and economic development (Gramothan) are receiving considerable attention.

92,175

Schools

2,639,821

Students

1,316,096

Boys Enrolled

1,323,725

Girls Enrolled

Ekal in Canada

At the time of independence, India’s literacy rate was a staggering 11%. Since then, it has made tremendous strides in educating its people. Present day, the literacy rate stands at 68% for the rural population in India – well below the world average literacy rate of 84%. The tribal / rural inhabitants live in remote areas, far from major cities. Those areas are highly deprived of basic amenities, modern facilities and even basic infrastructure. In this scenario, the Ekal movement emerged as the most pragmatic solution to this national need. Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of Canada was registered as an Ontario Corporation in 2006 and attained Canadian charitable status in 2007. Charity Registration Number (Canada): 853421162RR0001.

We welcome donors as well as volunteers to join us in this noble cause. Volunteer registration is open. We have regional chapters across Canada in Winnipeg, Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, London, Windsor, Ottawa etc.

Ekal Vidyalaya is primarily supported by individuals which perhaps makes it a largest individual donation based movement in the world.

The idea of Ekal is to connect maximum families in urban areas with their fellow countrymen living in rural and tribal areas. It is also an attempt to ensure connect between rural and urban communities. The individual donors are from all major metros cities in India and also spread across the globe in 18 countries. At present Ekal Donors are present in India, USA, Middle East, Canada, Australia, and many more countries. One donor supports one school and will get a direct access to that village thereby creating a direct link between the donor families with the village where Ekal School is operating.

Apart from individual donors, Ekal is also supported by business houses under CSR and by different charitable foundations across the globe to carry forward their objective of taking education at grass-roots.

One Teacher Schools

Ekal Vidyalaya is a one-teacher school primarily in the remote tribal villages where often there are not even the basic necessities of life such as roads, hospitals, schools, clean water etc. A school consists of 25 to 40 children and there are no formal school buildings. Classes are held under a tree, in a verandah, or wherever else is available. A blackboard, teacher and students form the classroom. Recently, the Arogya project was launched in parallel to reach the remotest village in India and provide better health care services based on the concept of Home Remedies. It helps:

To bridge the gap between remote areas and modern health facilities.
Creating awareness by health care education – emphasis is on sanitation, nutrition, personal hygiene and mother and child healthcare.
Providing preventive and curative health services (healthcare activity).
To create awareness about the national health program.

Special Ekal Projects in Rural Communities:

E-Shiksha (Teaching with Tablets)
Tailoring Training Center
Ekal On Wheels (Mobile Van for Digital Literacy)
Integrated Village Development
Telemedicine
Gramothan (Village Development) Resource Center
Digital Literacy Training Center

Syllabus

The curriculum consists of Languages, Mathematics, General Education, Science, Storytelling, Basic Healthcare, Handicrafts, and Physical Education.

Cost

The cost to adopt one school is CAD $500 per year. Donations, often collected during fundraising activities are used to cover this cost.

Budget

Teachers salary (honorarium) 60%; Teacher training 25%; Teaching material 6%; Regional operating expense 4%; Administrative expenses 5%.

Teachers

Teachers are invariably from the same village to ensure effect, preserve stability and maintain effectiveness. There are periodic programmes of training for teachers and other volunteers forming management network at all levels: junior, middle and senior.

A contribution of CAD $500 helps run one Ekal school for an entire year, educates 30 children, and has a positive impact on 30 rural families.

Through your gift you will receive the opportunity to make a significant difference.