Aahwahan Foundation is a Bengaluru-based non-governmental organization (NGO) working pan India that aims to bring equality in society through its various measures focused on eradicating poverty, unemployment, women inequality, and promoting girl’s education. Continued access to quality education can ignite far-reaching changes and provide a voice to marginalized communities globally. The Foundation has experienced the transformational capabilities of widely shared learning at the grassroots level and witnessing the adverse impact of them not being fulfilled.

Founded in 2009 by philanthropist and social worker Mr Braja Kishore Pradhan and a team of like-minded individuals with a commitment to eradicate poverty, Aahwahan is working in cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, NOIDA, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, and Pune. This Foundation aims to bring equality in the society through its various measures focused on eradicating poverty, unemployment, women inequality, and promoting girl’s education. Aahwahan believes that India’s economic miracle has been on the foundation of its high-quality education. They understand the importance of skill development along with school learning. The IT domain is expanding fast and there is an increasing demand for tech-savvy talent. But insufficient technical opportunities are the main obstacles in overcoming the digital divide in India. Realizing this, Aahwahan stepped forward with an innovative programme called ‘Education on Wheels’ to help rural students, especially females to enhance their technological skills.

 After analysing that the dropout rate in government schools is much higher than the enrollment rate particularly among girls, the Aahwahan’s team of experts started visiting various villages to educate and motivate parents and students about the necessity of education. Along with giving tutoring, the NGO also enables them in obtaining employment in a variety of settings and eventually becoming self-sufficient and financially secure.

 Under this initiative, the foundation launched a programme ‘Computer on Wheels’ where they find a village in Karnataka like Mallapura, Kamaluru, Koneripura, and coordinate with its president to inquire about the students who need skill development. The volunteers also meet the family and, if need be, set up temporary computer labs in government schools for 3–6 months to train youngsters of the village and neighbouring villages. After completion of the course, the students are entitled to get a certificate from the corporate training company NIIT.

 Commenting on this initiative, Mr Braja Kishore Pradhan, Founder, Aahwahan Foundation said, “Till now the Foundation has deployed 3 vans equipped with professionals and all of the necessary equipment for practical sessions benefiting more than 12,000 students across Karnataka. We were able to reach out to 12,680 students through our door-step education, with 723 dropout girls completing their high school. 268 of these students were also able to find employment in a variety of modest businesses with our assistance where they could earn an income. Through this programme, Aahwahan is confident of boosting the technical skills and employment potential of rural youth.”

Aahwahan has been successful in providing digital literacy and spreading education awareness to a substantial number of people, reaching students in even the most remote areas, and in doing so, they have been able to influence society by lessening the dropout rates, ramping up literacy rates, and providing quality education to students by encouraging them. The initiative has also benefitted students and their families by generating employment opportunities and promoting gender equality.#