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NURTURING OPPORTUNITIES
A TRANSFORMATIVE APPROACH
The Akshaya Patra Foundation’s vision for transformation comprises more than innovative
nutrition and health-based initiatives. We have been assessing the feasibility of bringing
about changes at various levels by working towards better infrastructure for schools,
behavioural changes among students, teachers, and non-teaching staff, and creating
platforms for life-changing opportunities for children.
towards the sustainability of schools. Interaction with
the community will also help in bringing a positive
outlook towards education, which can enhance school
enrolment ratio and retention rates.
Better school infrastructure, paired with workshops for
beneficiaries, teachers, and non-teaching staff, is aimed
Equipping Children for a Clean India: Akshaya Patra’s Role
to improve the standards of hygiene in schools.
Akshaya Patra will also assist the introduction of
innovative teaching methods to enhance the quality
of education in schools and encourage digitisation
of education. Through this project, we aspire to
develop a better approach towards mid-day meals at
organisational, state, and national levels.
Our diverse initiatives are designed to enable an all-inclusive growth for our beneficiaries
and safeguard their overall development. Our efforts are aimed to enable the progress of
children in all directions, so that they can bring change not only in their own lives, but
also in their families, communities, and the nation in the future.
A Holistic Approach to Quality Education
One of the most important objectives of the school lunch
programme is to incentivise education along with food
and nutrition security for school-aged children. The
programme seeks to increase the enrolment, attendance,
and retention rates in schools. While India has a high
enrolment ratio of 82.3 percent, the dropout rate is also
high, consequential of several socio-economic factors.
The Foundation has devised an evaluation tool using
evidence-based methods for the need assessment
of selected beneficiary schools in four locations.
Utilising this tool, we have assessed their qualitative
and quantitative aspects, which has helped us in
determining their vital requirements and prioritising
these requirements for each school.
While the Model School project aims to enrich
beneficiaries’ learning environment at school, a thorough
sense of cleanliness and hygiene among them is equally
important. The Akshaya Patra Foundation launched the
‘Swachh Vidyarthi, Swachh Vidyalaya, Swachh Gruha’
initiative in pursuance of Mahatma Gandhi’s aspiration
for a clean India and the Government of India’s ‘Swachh
Bharat Swachh Vidyalaya’ (SBSV) mission.
The Foundation will strive to inculcate a culture of
personal hygiene and cleanliness in a systematic manner
among all its beneficiaries in 15,786 Government and
Government-aided schools across 12 states of India.
As a part of this cleanliness drive, a series of activities
will be conducted in schools so that beneficiaries
are equipped with knowledge and best practices in
cleanliness and hygiene. They will be thus encouraged
to appreciate the importance of personal hygiene and
cleanliness at their schools and homes. Akshaya Patra
will also hold interactive sessions and workshops for
parents to spread awareness among them, with an aim
to create a system of cleanliness in communities.
We are optimistic about partnering with various
organisations and institutions who will provide their
expertise and support for this initiative.
Mascots of
Akshaya Patra is working on the ‘Model School’ initiative
to support the creation of an environment in schools
that will enhance the impact of our mid-day meals.
The objective of the initiative is to rejuvenate schools
in which we serve meals, and create a sustainable and
replicable model that can be a template for other schools.
Akshaya Patra also seeks to educate beneficiaries
about health and hygiene by organising various
awareness workshops and encouraging their
participation. The project will also engage the
community in order to urge their contribution
Bhoomi Sunny Akash
ANNUAL REPORT 2017-18 ASPIRE - 57
ASPIRE - 58 ANNUAL REPORT 2017-18