Parikrma Humanity Foundation

Founded	2003[1]
Founder	Shukla Bose[2]
Type	Humanitarian Foundation
Focus	Education
Location	Bangalore, India
Area served	Bangalore

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 the slums 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.^[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.

Parikrma runs 4 Centres for Learning and a Junior College for 2000 children from 99 slum communities and 4 orphanages in Bangalore. Parikrma is a nondenominational nonprofit that does not discriminate on the basis of caste, creed, or religion.

Parikrma was certified as Great Place to Work in 2020.

History

In the year 2003, 165 children from marginalized families started a new chapter in life, huddled together on a small roof-top in a school in Rajendra Nagar, Bengaluru. Today, they are ranked Number 1^[5] Social Impact School in India (Education World, 2019–20).

Parikrma:

Operated 4 K-10 schools and 1 Junior College (Grades 11 &12) spread across Bangalore

Had more than 1800 children, 52% of whom are girls

Their students are drawn from 105 slum communities and 5 orphanages across Bangalore

Parikrma has the highest attendance in the country at 96%^[6] and the lowest drop-out rate at less than 1%. Many of their students have attended the Global Youth Leadership Summit^[7] in San Diego over the years and continue to do so. At Parikrma, children have the widest possible exposure to ensure they can access equal opportunities, even in academics, sports, and other extra-curricular activities. Their teachers have been part of the British Council Global School Exchange Program and have travelled to schools in the UK as part of their training.   

Parikrma Humanity Foundation provides English medium education to the poorest from the slums of Bangalore, India. Built around the CBSE curriculum, education at Parikrma includes sport, art, music, theatre, dance and wide exposure to the world. Parikrma also provides each child 3 meals a day, comprehensive healthcare and family care.

The Parikrma Model allows for a child to be mentored right from Kindergarten till the child gets a job. Parikrma manages K-12 education, through 4 Centers for Learning and a Junior College for 1802 children coming from 99 slum communities and 4 orphanages. College scholarships are given to each child to complete professional education / training.

Parikrma graduates are leading change. A software engineer with Cisco Systems, an assistant chef at Hilton, a dialysis therapist in Manipal Hospital, a marathoner, a digital designer, artists, social workers, entrepreneurs (a catering company, a sports development firm etc.), a dentist, an activist and avid blogger, an actress – a student pursuing law at the prestigious National Law School, biotechnology at MS Ramaiah - the list grows longer and diverse with each passing year.

Educational Philosophy

Parikrma's educational philosophy rests on "The Four Pillars":^[8]

• 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.^[9]

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.^[10] Their Last Mile program provides a professional mentor while students acclimate to their first year in the workplace.

Impact

Alumni: The first batch of Parikrma 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. Today, there are more than 300 students pursuing higher studies sponsored by Parikrma. These students are studying law, engineering, gaming, animation, design coding, paramedical courses, fashion technology and Parikrma has opened up doors for more creative and new age career choices. Parikrma students represent the country in Global Youth Leadership Summit in San Diego, and others do book reviews with schools from Seattle, London, and Norway.

Parikrma FC: This club was born in 2013. They are currently Bangalore A Division team.

Parikrma Girls FC: In 2018, Parikrma formed an all-girls football club in Bangalore.

Awards: Parikrma Humanity Foundation has been awarded the Derozio Award^[11] for excellence in special education and social commitment. Parikrma also received the Governor’s award for exemplary social work in January 2007. The organisation is now a chapter included in Cornell University^[12] and IIMB.^[13] We received the CNBC Digitalizing India Award 2016 for the category of Digital Innovation in Driving Social Impact and the CSR Awards for being one of the 50 Most Impactful Social Innovators in 2016. Parikrma won the Indian Achievers Award^[14] 2020 for Education Excellence.

Publications: Parikrma has so far published three papers on education and impact in international journals:

• Overcoming barriers to learning – the Parikrma way ^[15]
• Moving the needle of learning and academic progress of students through motivation and support: a case study of a chain of schools from Bangalore, India^[16]
• Changing political ideologies and its impact on education policies: case study of India in comparison with China and the US^[17]

Expansion and Scale

Community Development: The Community Development Services team is made up of social workers.

Education Transformation Centre (ETC): Through ETC, launched in July 2014, Parikrma creates and offers teacher training modules to teachers, other NGO workers, school administrators and social entrepreneurs. 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.

Adopted 5 Government Schools: Parikrma has adopted a school in 2017 - the Maruthinagar Government School. Parikrma has signed a MoU with the Government of Karnataka to bring about a change in academics, and overall development of children and performance at government schools. Over 500 children at the school are set to benefit from this new initiative. There has been a 60% increment in enrollment and 80% attendance in the Parent Teachers Meeting since inception.

References