Ekal Dallas Gets One Step Closer to Achieving Mahatma Gandhi's Dream of a
Literate India
Ekal Vidyalaya of Dallas, a chapter of one of the foremost illiteracy eradication NGO’s in the
world, just completed an eclectic Public awareness campaign combined with a wonderful
entertainment program for its patrons and donors.
Dallas, TX (PRWEB) November 11, 2009 -- Ekal Vidyalaya of Dallas, a chapter of one of the foremost illiteracy
eradication NGO’s in the world, just completed an eclectic Public awareness campaign combined with a
wonderful entertainment program for its patrons and donors. This successful event was held at the Majestic
Eisemann Center Theater in Richardson, Texas on Saturday, November 7.
Mahatma Gandhi, in 1937, came up with a Basic Education Plan for India, which had as its core features a
comprehensive but decentralized educational model, designed to penetrate the villages of India, which house 70%
of India’s population. A vital objective of Gandhi’s vision and that of Ekal Vidyalaya, is to impart basic
education, and at the same time develop other social and survival skills among the rural masses. Ekal operates
primarily in rural areas of India and a few neighboring countries. ‘Ekal Vidyalaya’ means One teacher school,
and is unique in that each of its schools curriculum is tailored to the needs of the villages and rural areas it serves,
by utilizing local teachers, using the local language as its medium of instruction, and setting the school’s schedule
based on local needs and holidays.
Ekal is the largest Non Governmental organization(NGO) of its kind anywhere in the world, and has had a
meaningful contribution in bumping up the literacy rate from 11% during India’s independence in 1947, to 66%
today. It recognizes that India still has a whopping 34% illiteracy that needs addressed, and has set its sight on
increasing the number of its One teacher ‘Ekal’ schools from its current 26,719 to 100,000 by the year 2011, an
impressive goal by any standards.
The theme for the event in Dallas w