Latest news with #AzimPremjiUniversity
Time Magazine
20-05-2025
- Business
- Time Magazine
Azim Premji
Over five decades, tech magnate Azim Premji transformed his parents' small vegetable oil business into a global leader in IT. Today, he is better known as one of India's most generous philanthropists, directing his wealth to systematically improving India's public education system. The first Indian to sign the Giving Pledge, in 2013, Premji has endowed the foundation he launched nearly 25 years ago with over $29 billion in shares from his company, Wipro. In addition to disbursing traditional grants—$109 million went to 940 organizations focused on education, health, and other areas in 2023-2024—the foundation works directly with teachers and rural child care workers via 59 field offices and 263 teacher learning centers throughout India, on educational programs that have so far helped over 8 million children. The foundation also plays an advocacy role on education policy, helping to shape national its latest initiatives: constructing a third campus for Azim Premji University, which offers programs aligned with the foundation's mission, including in public health, education, and sustainability; a scholarship program for college-bound girls; and establishing over 480 child-care centers for kids ages six months to 3 years. In August, the foundation also committed around $175 million to expand school meal coverage for more than 5 million children—all collectively reflecting Premji's philosophy, influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, to regard 'holding one's wealth in trusteeship, to be used for the betterment of society.'
New Indian Express
11-05-2025
- General
- New Indian Express
Model school pupils go beyond 100 per cent pass, ace entrance exams in Tamil Nadu
THOOTHUKUDI: In what is an episode of double delight for the first-ever batch passing out from the district's lone Government Model School, the 74 students of Class 12 have not only achieved 100% pass percentage but 26 of them have also so far gone on to crack the entrance exams of some of the premier educational institutions in the country.. Collector K Elambahavath on Saturday visited the school functioning out of the Infant Jesus Engineering College at Vallanadu and congratulated the children and faculty members for the outstanding performance. The primary aim of the model school to guide those talented students in government schools, and who hail from families with a modest background, to the premier institutions of the country is evidently being witnessed, he said. Currently, four students of the model school cleared JEE (Joint Entrance Examination); five the exam to Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management; one, CLAT; two students cleared the test by Azim Premji University while four qualified for NATA. Two students have been shortlisted to the National Institute of Fashion Technology. Student Abivarshini has qualified for UCEED (undergraduate common entrance examination for design) attached to the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, NIFT and APU.
The Hindu
10-05-2025
- General
- The Hindu
First batch of government model school students in Thoothukudi shines in national-level entrance exams
The first batch of students who passed Class 12 from the government model school at Vallanadu in Thoothukudi district has cleared various national-level entrance examinations conducted so far for the academic year 2025-26. The 74 students from this pioneering batch are ambitiously working towards securing seats in prestigious institutions across the country. Many of the students are awaiting counselling while others have begun the admission process and continue to attempt additional examinations to explore the best possible options for higher education. The government model school at Thoothukudi was inaugurated in 2023. All 74 students admitted to Class XI have now successfully completed their higher secondary education with some even securing admission before the public examinations. Notably, students S. Abivarshini and J.E. Srither secured their seats at Azim Premji University in Bengaluru. J.E. Srither, who chose to pursue Physics, said he had taken the exam in December, cleared the interview in January, and secured his seat by February. 'My father is a daily wage painter and studying in such a premier institution seemed unimaginable. But the model school has made it possible with ease. They provided accommodation, food, and all necessary facilities. All we have to do is study,' he said. He said: 'I have been selected for a fully funded scholarship where the institution will take care of accommodation, food, and provide laptops for educational purposes.' Similarly, four students have been selected for the JEE (Advanced) from the school. A. Balamurugan, one of the selected students from the school, hails from modest background. His mother Valliammal is a daily wage worker. Balamurugan said that his mother was not even aware of entrance tests and institutions existing and added that he aspired to clear the UPSC examination after completing his undergraduate studies. Apart from this, the students were selected for NIFT, Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management, Common Law Admission Test, National Aptitude Test in Architecture, Indian Culinary Institute, and Undergraduate Common Entrance Examination for Design at IIT-Bombay. Ganjennthiran, headmaster of the school, said that other than these courses, students appeared for other entrance examinations and are still applying for a few more exams, including All India Forensic Science Entrance Test. He added that along with students, teachers too continuously got trained on current syllabus and national-level programmes to guide students in choosing their career. Thoothukudi District Collector K. Elambahavath said that the students are excelling in their chosen path, whether it is engineering, medicine, law or other streams. 'The biggest challenge is convincing parents to admit their children into model school after the selection by the government,' he said. He said the campus provided excellent amenities, including quality food, reference material and 24x7 Internet facilities.
Time of India
23-04-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Azim Premji Foundation's hospital in Jharkhand to offer free services to poor
Ranchi: The maiden hospital by the Azim Premji Foundation , being set up in Jharkhand, would offer free health services to the poor and the project is expected to be completed in January 2027, an official said on Tuesday. The project, if successful, will be replicated across the country with 15 similar ventures, the official said. The 230-bed super-speciality hospital and medical college is being constructed on about 150-acre Azim Premji University campus in Ranchi's Itki block, Anand Swaminathan, who leads the health project at the foundation, said. "The facility will eventually have 1,300 beds. We plan to begin operations with a 230-bed hospital by January 2027. Construction for both the hospital and medical college has commenced. This will be the foundation's first hospital in the country," Swaminathan told reporters. "Following the success of this hospital, we aim to establish 15 more facilities across the country in future," he added. Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren laid the foundation stone for Rs 5,000-crore private university project on January 24 last year. The first phase of the university is expected to be completed by July 2026, with academic sessions likely to commence the same year, he said. Swaminathan emphasised that treatment would be free for the poor, with charges structured to remain affordable for others. A school is also being developed on four acres within the university campus, offering free education up to Class 12. The school will provide mid-day meals, health check-ups, uniforms, textbooks, and notebooks, Swaminathan said. "We plan to enrol at least 1,200 students in the school, which will follow the CBSE curriculum," he added. Besides, the Foundation is making efforts to improve the health parameters of the members of tribal communities in Jharkhand. It has identified 100 districts nationwide, half of which are tribal-majority with poor health indicators. In Jharkhand, the districts would include Ranchi, Gumla, Simdega, and Lohardaga, he said. "We are currently working in two blocks - Dharmajaigarh and Lailunga - in Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh, and Bero and Itki blocks of in Jharkhand's Ranchi district. Our team of health professionals collaborates with the government to strengthen frontline health systems," Swaminathan said. The Foundation envisages investment of up to Rs 7,500 crore per annum on health across the country, he said. While the health status of tribal populations has improved over the past few decades, there remains a significant gap between health indicators among tribal and many other social groups. National Family Health Survey-5 data shows that tribal people suffer from various health-related issues such as low immunisation coverage and institutional delivery, besides anaemia and child malnutrition.
