>> Message from the Chairman in "Wipro Applying Thought in Schools" website

Message From Chairman

Ladies and Gentlemen,
For a corporate like Wipro, in addition to delivering good business performance and corporate governance, it is also necessary to be aware that there is a social purpose of being in business. We at Wipro as well as in personal capacity launched two initiatives to make a tangible difference to the society. I would like to take this opportunity to speak about those initiatives and our commitment to them.

India is at a stage of development where there are multiple issues, all equally important and urgent. We decided to focus single-mindedly on "education" as the key issue and put all our resources for it. This is mainly because education is the fountainhead of talent. It is only with a good educational system that we can prepare the future generations for the demands of the modern world. In a vast country like India, education is faced with both "quantity" and "quality" dimensions. By quantity I mean the issues like low literacy, high drop out rates especially in rural areas and inadequate access to education. On the other hand, quality means - issues such as focus on creative thinking, problem solving skills, life skills, application of knowledge, enjoying education etc.

To put the education scenario in India in proper perspective let me give you some figures. There are nearly 1 million schools in India. There are 2500 accredited teacher training institutes which produce 2,50,000 teachers every year. Currently there are 5 million teachers in the various schools teaching 300 million school going children in the age group of 6-18. While on one hand, there are many children who still do not have the access to proper education with the necessary facilities and infrastructure and the ones who have access to proper education are limited by a system which does not equip them with skills which help them meet challenges in the world of tomorrow.

Keeping the above issues in mind we launched two separate programmes in education. The first one, the Azim Premji Foundation, addresses the issue of universalisation of elementary education. Universalisation of education in simple terms means, every child in school continuing in the school and learning at a certain quality. While the quantity issue is taken care by the work done by numerous other corporates and NGOs, there is very little concerted effort which has gone into addressing the quality issue. The second programme - "Wipro Applying Thought in Schools" has been designed to address the same.

The "Wipro Applying Thought in Schools", is aimed at inculcating problem solving and creating thinking skills among the children. In the urban schools, where access to basic education is comparatively a lesser issue, quality of education needs an overhaul. There is too much emphasis on memorization at the cost of all other skills. The focus is on how to beat the system and score the maximum. The gap between what the workplace demands and what the schools and colleges are producing, has only increased, as education system has remained largely unchanged over the past several decades.

To impart the skills of problem solving and creative thinking, we will need to change both the way teaching happens, currently and the way assessment takes place. To bring about a long term fundamental change in students, it are the teachers who have to be the change agents. Teachers are the most important pillars of the education system. It is the teachers who have the important task of moulding the young minds and help them to think.

However, to be effective change agents, it is important that the teachers are equipped with newer methods by which they can help build the problem solving skill among the students. The "Wipro Applying Thought in Schools" programme helps teachers to do just that. This programme represents Wipro's efforts to equip our teachers.

The initial reports and the feedback that we have received from the schools that have been a part of the project, have been extremely positive. It gives us the confidence to extend the programme to more schools across more cities. It has given us the fine tuning in terms of the project and more importantly it has given us tremendous satisfaction that what we are doing is important and can have some significance in this country over a period of time.

Azim . H . Premji

We have taken an ambitious target on ourselves and are committed to make it a nationwide success. We also recognize that this is a big issue and we will need the support of more people to help us achieve our objectives. The Wipro Project is thus a forum for like minded people to come together. People who believe that change is needed in the way teaching happens, people who believe that in changing times, different requirements necessitates a changed approach to education. The Wipro Project is a platform where all of us can work together to make the change happen. The future will see not only a difference in the way lessons are taught, but also a change in what is taught and the way assessment is done. The future is not what will happen but what we make it to be.

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