PUPIL Progress for Underserved pupils through

International Learning
Context:
We are Kasturi Trust, led by Dr. G.K. Jayaram as Managing Trustee, a non-profit NGO
working in India since 2004 for diverse social causes as pro bono consultants to help
enhance the quality and the quantity of services delivered to the poor. ILID,
Institute for Leadership & Institutional Development, is a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Kasturi Trust and this program proposal is under the auspices of ILID.
Education to children below poverty line has been among the priority sectors for the
Trusts work and contribution. America has fallen to the 25 th place among the
developed nations in the quality of Science and Mathematics education. 8.1 million
children in India never even see the insides of a school and private initiative is
sorely needed in addition to the uneven government efforts.
Our proposed program
Our program PUPIL offers, we believe, a unique educational solution which

would have multiple benefits in US and India.

The proposal is to provide on-line tutoring at low cost in Sciences,
Mathematics and languages, including for SAT, to inner city children in
the US cities, the instruction being provided by the best of teachers from
India.
We also intend to use the virtual technology to foster inter-cultural
exchanges between the students in the two countries as also among the
teachers and tutors on both sides of the world.
Inner city schools in the U.S have high dropout rates and continuing students
struggle, especially in Math, English and Science. We believe that PUPIL will enable
post-school supplemental help to students, having a positive long-term impact on
their learning and the way they perceive school. This will give them the opportunity
to understand concepts, work on assignments and prepare for tests while
reinforcing learning in a small group size.
Educational Offering Summary
We will offer post school supplemental online teaching assistance to school students
in grades 5-12, for Math, English and Science. Each session will be delivered using
virtual classroom technology to 5 students in a group. We are open to a larger
classroom model as well. Each student gets 100 hours of teaching in an academic
year, which is approximately one hour per week per subject (Math, English and
Science) of a 32 week academic calendar. Student progress will be monitored on a

regular basis, and students will also provide ratings and feedback to the teachers to
track and improve their performance.
We believe that enlightened Foundations working around the world for the poor will
find this Learning bridge across the oceans a valuable supplement to their
philanthropic efforts and will join us as partners in perfecting this model and
spreading it across America.