Agastya International Foundation

The Agastya International Foundation is a transformative educational organization, actively spreading hands-on learning to poor rural and urban children and teachers in India since 1999. Mobile labs carry Agastya’s vision and mission all across rural India. A 172-acre campus near Kuppam, Andhra Pradesh, is the organization’s creativity lab, visited by more than 500 students per day, whose curiosity is sparked by Agastya’s hands-on teaching methods. More than 130 mobile labs spread across over a dozen states in India, and 50 science centers spread across eighteen states take Agastya’s creative pedagogy to more than 1.5 million children and 200,000 teachers every year. Agastya’s advisers and members include entrepreneurs, scientists, educators, philanthropists, and teachers. To date Agastya has directly impacted, face-to-face, six million children and 200,000 teachers through our continued efforts. Every day these numbers are climbing. Agastya’s unique methods and programs aim to address significant gaps in education systems that are stretched to their limits. Is it any wonder that there is a dearth of practical exposure to science concepts? The sheer numbers of children to be taught would be daunting in any situation, and all the more in these poor, remote communities. The main goal is to attract and retain vulnerable and disadvantaged children to quality educational programs. The programs are holistically designed to spark creative thinking and problem solving skills, improve learning achievement, and expand opportunities. Agastya’s educational interventions complement and work alongside government programs and the curriculum in the government schools.