Parikrma Humanity Foundation
Bangalore, India

Developed from Parikrma website: www.parikrmafoundation.org. For detailed information please visit the web site.

 The Parikrma Model: The Parikrma Model is a 360° Development Program (3DP) that gives the poorest of the poor the ability to compete on equal terms. Parikrma gives them the tools that will create a level playing field, enabling the poor to break their cycle of poverty. The rest is left to individual initiative, drive and perseverance. 

Parikrma’s focus is urban India.

Primary education in government schools is in a severe state of disrepair. Dropout rates are close to 70% by the time the child reaches class VII and 50% by class V. Attendance is as low as 15%. Teachers are poorly trained and teaching methods are outdated. There is no incentive to remain in school. Even those who pass out of these schools have little ability to compete in the real world. They end up as a literate 3rd class – frustrated that they have nowhere to go.

This must change.

In India the real issue is not of providing access to education for children. Access exists with over 900,000 schools. What is needed is access to quality education with a focus on outcomes – i.e. of poverty alleviation. 90% of primary schools in India are government schools, and if India has to achieve pre-eminence as one of the top 3 global economies, these schools need to improve dramatically, especially in delivering quality education.

The Parikrma Model is aimed at just this – providing a sustainable and scalable model for providing quality education with a strong focus on outcomes.

 Parikrma’s Vision: To transform lives of under-served people in urban India. The hope is that this inspires others and in doing so becomes a movement.

In a recommendation by a Harvard University study, it was noted that achieving universal primary education in India was linked closely to improving the service delivery mechanism. With 94% of the over 900,000 schools in India being government or government aided, this rings true. In these schools, teachers are trained poorly, do not attend regularly and teach an outdated curriculum in an outdated manner. 

Parikrma Children

There are over 6 lakh (600,000) people living in over 800 designated slums in the city of Bangalore. These slums are recognized by Municipal authorities and this makes access to basic sanitation, water and electricity somewhat possible. Close to 1 million people live in non-designated slums in abject poverty with no safe drinking water or even adequate sanitation.

Children at Parikrma come from somewhere in between ambiguous terminology and statistics. The 620 children come from 3 orphanages and 25 different communities across Kormangala, Jayanagar, Sahakaranagar and Yeshwanthpur, but diverse histories. Backgrounds of neglect, complete lack of medical care, alcoholic parents and various sorts of abuse are common stories. Perhaps what is most alarming is that sometimes our children don’t even get a meal a day.

However, one thing is for certain, if not for Parikrma, many of these children would not be in school.

Children selection criteria

• Orphaned & abandoned children

• Below 6 years of age

• Slum children from households with income less than Rs. 1,500 p.m. ($30)

• Special emphasis on the girl child

• Preference to siblings

• No distinction of caste, creed & religion

Shukla Bose, Founder – CEO

• 28 years of hospitality industry experience.

• Launchedthe time-share industry in India. Managing director of RCI for 11 years.

• India's Women Entrepreneur of the year in 1995.

• Launched and managed an international NGO in Bangalore for 3 years.
   

Web design by Lynn Kirby, 2007