Eklavya

Eklavya is an Indian nongovernmental organisation headquartered in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, working to improve the quality and relevance of education. Its work has developed from experiments in rural school science teaching into a broad programme covering curriculum design, classroom practice, teacher development, educational research, publications, community education, and health-related learning. The organisation is particularly associated with approaches that replace rote memorisation with observation, experimentation, discussion, field investigation, and learning connected to children’s social and physical environment. The intellectual and organisational background of Eklavya lies in Kishore Bharti, an initiative established by Anil Sadgopal after he left the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in 1972. Kishore Bharti worked on rural development and soon collaborated with the Friends Rural Center and networks of scientists, educators, engineers, and social activists on the Hoshangabad Science Teaching Programme, commonly called the Hoshangabad Experiment. Beginning in the early 1970s in government schools in the Hoshangabad area of Madhya Pradesh, the programme tested whether science could be taught through practical investigation rather than textbook-centred recitation. University faculty, schoolteachers, researchers, and institutions including TIFR and the University of Delhi contributed to the curriculum and its evaluation. Eklavya later broadened the same philosophy beyond science. Its Prashika programme developed primary-level approaches to language, mathematics, and child development, using field surveys, classroom trials, and a staged understanding of children’s learning. The programme was piloted in rural schools, expanded to additional schools, and subsequently informed the Seekhna Sikhana curriculum associated with Madhya Pradesh’s primary-education reforms. Related work led to Shiksha Protsahan Kendras in rural and tribal areas and the Bhopal Education Resource Centre, which promoted reading, writing, expression, libraries, and activity-based learning. The organisation’s social-science programme, begun in 1986, encouraged children to examine social processes through comparison, dialogue, local experience, and historical change. Its health and adolescence-education work used community knowledge and students’ questions to address nutrition, reproductive health, mental health, domestic violence, primary healthcare, and other issues. Materials such as the human-body teaching resources and the Tan Man series were designed to make health education accessible and locally meaningful, including space for women’s experiences and perspectives. Eklavya also operates as a publisher and knowledge-resource organisation. Its output includes school textbooks and supplementary materials, science and social-science resources, teacher-training material, and periodicals. Chakmak is a Hindi children’s magazine aimed broadly at readers up to fourteen, while Shaikshik Sandharb is a teacher- and adult-oriented educational periodical. The organisation has also produced science features and other resources for children, teachers, and community programmes. It has collaborated with public education bodies, including national and state curriculum institutions, on textbook and curriculum development. Eklavya’s positioning is that of a public-interest education organisation rather than a commercial school operator or consumer brand. Its distinctive contribution is the combination of field-based experimentation, teacher participation, curriculum research, accessible publishing, and engagement with government systems. The available reference material documents continuing educational and community work, but does not establish a single founding date, a commercial ownership structure, or a conventional corporate executive hierarchy.

Eklavya’s history is rooted in a series of educational experiments conducted in rural Madhya Pradesh. The earliest institutional predecessor identified in the available material is Kishore Bharti, established by Anil Sadgopal in 1972 after his departure from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. Although Kishore Bharti was initially concerned with wider economic-development activity, it soon became involved in school science education with the Friends Rural Center and a growing network of scientists, teachers, engineers, educationists, and social activists. This collaboration produced the Hoshangabad Science Teaching Programme, or HSTP, in the early 1970s. The programme used village schools to test whether government education could accommodate a discovery-oriented model of science teaching. Instead of placing memorisation and textbook coverage at the centre, HSTP emphasised experiments, measurement, field observation, recording data, discussion, and the formation of explanations. Its underlying educational principle was learning by doing. Environmental study was later incorporated into the approach, linking scientific concepts to the learner’s surroundings. Academic support came from groups connected with TIFR, the University of Delhi, and other universities, colleges, and national institutions, while schoolteachers participated in developing and refining the curriculum. The approach expanded from science into primary education. Prashika, initiated in the 1980s, developed a Class I–V curriculum informed by studies of language, mathematics, child development, local culture, and the conditions of schools. Its field implementation began in a small number of schools and expanded during the late 1980s. The work later informed the Seekhna Sikhana package used in Madhya Pradesh’s primary-education initiatives and contributed to curriculum development for alternative schools under the state’s Education Guarantee Scheme. Although the original programme was eventually closed by the state, its methods continued through Shiksha Protsahan Kendras and the Bhopal Education Resource Centre. Eklavya’s social-science work began in 1986 as a school-based experiment in parts of Madhya Pradesh. The programme treated students as participants in classroom dialogue and encouraged them to compare information, local experience, and historical or geographical contexts. It aimed to help learners understand social change as a result of the differing interests and roles of social groups, rather than as a fixed sequence of textbook facts. The organisation also developed health and adolescence-education resources. A human-body module, begun in 1986, was shaped by input from communities, teachers, and students. It used large visual models, posters, workshops, and publications to discuss bodily systems, nutrition, reproductive health, mental health, domestic violence, primary care, and related issues. The work became associated with the Sharir Ki Tasweer flex chart and the Tan Man series of booklets. From the mid-1980s onward, Eklavya combined programme implementation with curriculum research, teacher education, and publication. It worked across science, social science, and mathematics and developed materials for different school levels. Its high-school science work, initiated in 2007, sought to extend the activity-based logic of Bal Vaigyanik into Classes IX and X. The curriculum framework included topics such as light, evolution, cell theory, atomic theory, motion and force, and heat and temperature, with an emphasis on concepts, inquiry skills, and the nature of scientific knowledge. Eklavya’s publishing and dissemination work has included children’s books, school textbooks, teacher resources, and periodicals. Chakmak provides Hindi educational and literary content for children, while Shaikshik Sandharb addresses teachers and adult readers. The organisation has also provided science features and supported school and community activities, including student clubs and programmes concerning adolescent health. Its collaborations with national and state curriculum institutions connected field-tested ideas with wider education reform, including work undertaken in the context of India’s National Curriculum Framework 2005. The organisation’s documented trajectory is therefore one of moving from a local experiment in science pedagogy to a wider educational institution combining research, curriculum production, teacher development, publishing, and community engagement. The available sources do not provide a complete account of its current governance, staffing, funding, or nationwide operations.

• 2007

  High-school science curriculum work begins

  [1]Eklavya foundationen.wikipedia.org

  Eklavya started developing activity-based science materials for Classes IX and X, extending earlier middle-school science work.

• 2001

  Prashika approach reaches state curriculum adoption

  [1]Eklavya foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The Seekhna Sikhana package, informed by Prashika, was adopted for wider primary-education use in Madhya Pradesh.

• 2000

  Bhopal Education Resource Centre established

  [1]Eklavya foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The Bhopal Education Resource Centre was set up to encourage primary and pre-primary learning activities, reading, expression, and library development.

• 1999

  Shiksha Protsahan Kendras established

  [1]Eklavya foundationen.wikipedia.org

  Related centres began operating in rural and tribal areas to support first-generation learners through activity-based education.

• 1995

  Prashika learning informs state primary education

  [1]Eklavya foundationen.wikipedia.org

  Learning from the Prashika trials was incorporated into the Seekhna Sikhana curriculum work of Madhya Pradesh’s primary-education programme.

• 1986

  Social-science and human-body programmes launched

  [1]Eklavya foundationen.wikipedia.org

  Experimental social-science education began in schools, alongside a community-informed human-body and health-education module.

• 1983

  Prashika work begins

  [1]Eklavya foundationen.wikipedia.org

  Eklavya began developing a primary-education approach addressing child development, language, mathematics, and local school conditions.

• 1972

  Kishore Bharti established

  [1]Eklavya foundationen.wikipedia.org

  Anil Sadgopal left the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and established Kishore Bharti in rural Madhya Pradesh, creating an institutional predecessor to later educational work associated with Eklavya.

• 1972

  Hoshangabad Science Teaching Programme begins

  [1]Eklavya foundationen.wikipedia.org

  Kishore Bharti, the Friends Rural Center, and collaborating scientists and educators began testing inquiry-based science teaching in village schools in the Hoshangabad area.

A public-interest Indian education organisation focused on inquiry-based learning, locally grounded curriculum development, teacher support, educational publishing, and community-linked programmes.

• Science curriculum

  Bal Vaigyanik

  An activity-based science curriculum associated with the Hoshangabad educational tradition and designed for middle-school learners. It focuses on practical investigation, measurement, data recording, inference, generalisation, and understanding key scientific concepts rather than memorising a large body of disconnected facts.

• Primary curriculum · 1983

  Prashika

  A primary-school curriculum-development programme covering language, mathematics, child development, and learning processes for Classes I to V. It was built through field surveys, classroom trials, and attention to the cultural and socioeconomic context of learners, later informing broader state-level curricular work.

• Children’s magazine

  Chakmak

  A Hindi magazine for children up to approximately fourteen years of age. It forms part of Eklavya’s publishing work and uses accessible educational and literary content to support children’s reading, curiosity, and engagement with the world around them.

• Teacher and education periodical

  Shaikshik Sandharb

  A periodical for teachers and adult readers covering educational issues and practice. The publication is described as available for free download and supports Eklavya’s wider role in sharing pedagogical discussion and curriculum knowledge.

• Health-education publications

  Tan Man series

  A series of booklets developed from Eklavya’s human-body and adolescence-education work. Topics include body systems, skin, digestion, nutrition, musculoskeletal and respiratory functions, reproductive health, and other aspects of physical and mental well-being.

• Secondary science curriculum · 2007

  High School Science Programme

  A curriculum-development programme for Classes IX and X that extends inquiry-based science learning beyond middle school. Its planned subject modules include light, evolution, cell theory, atomic theory, motion and force, and heat and temperature, with attention to conceptual foundations and scientific inquiry.

• Health-education visual resource

  Sharir Ki Tasweer

  A large-format visual teaching resource showing the human body and identifying organs and their functions. It grew out of community-based health education and was intended for demonstrations, workshops, and accessible discussion of bodily and health-related subjects.

1. 1Eklavya foundationen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Eklavya official websiteeklavya.in