In this interview with Dr. Sujata Somani, Mona Chopra, President of the New England Chapter of Vidya Bharati Foundation USA, discusses the mission and impact of one of India's largest educational movements.
Vidya Bharati supports a nationwide network of more than 12,000 schools serving millions of students across urban, rural, and tribal communities. The organization is dedicated to providing value-based, affordable education that emphasizes academic excellence, character development, leadership, and service to society. Through its schools, teacher training programs, and community initiatives, Vidya Bharati seeks to empower young people with the knowledge, skills, and values needed to contribute to India's future.
In this conversation, Chopra shares how the Foundation's supporters in the United States are helping strengthen educational opportunities in India and why investing in education remains one of the most effective ways to create lasting social impact.
Watch the full interview to learn more about Vidya Bharati's vision and the work of its U.S. supporters.
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Mona Chopra, President of the Vidya Bharti Foundation's New England Chapter, discusses the mission of Vidya Bharti, India's largest educational NGO. The organization provides affordable, value-based education to millions of children across urban, rural, and tribal areas, boasting high academic success rates and a vast alumni network of professionals.
Hello, my name is Sujatha Samani. Today I'm talking to Mona Chopra, who is President of
Vidya Bharti Foundation, New England Chapter. So Mona and I have known each other for many
years. Mona, tell me how you got involved in Vidya Bharti.
Sujatha, thank you for coming today and it's a pleasure talking to you. So a lot many people
know about Vidya Bharti. So let me just give some background on Vidya Bharti and then I can talk
about how I got involved, what drove me to support this mission. So Vidya Bharti is the largest
educational NGO in India. It has over 14,000 schools, formal and informal schools and educates
3.5 million children a day. So Vidya Bharti, the first school was founded in 1952 in Gorakhpur
and since then it has grown across the nation. It is in several states and districts.
It has grown into tribal schools. It has a school system in urban and rural areas
as well as in the villages. Mona, tell us why you support Vidya Bharti
and how did you get involved? So my first involvement with Vidya Bharti was through
Shri R.P. Khaitan who is the National Vice Chairman of Vidya Bharti in India.
So they were visiting us for several years in the US and that's how I got exposed to Vidya Bharti.
But I really learned more and got more intimately involved with Vidya Bharti when I visited some of
schools in India. Last year I visited schools in Delhi, in Dehradun, in the hilly areas,
in Haridwar and saw what Vidya Bharti was really doing. So Vidya Bharti provides value-based
education at an affordable cost. So these are children whose parents pay about a thousand
rupees a month for their education and where they can't afford it, Vidya Bharti provides free
education for those children. Mona, you're hosting a gala for Vidya Bharti on July 12th.
Tell us what people should expect and why they should attend.
So the gala on July 12th is actually our second gala. We just started last year and
at this gala, people will learn more about Vidya Bharti. There'll be a presentation,
there'll be a video where they will show the accomplishments that have happened over the year,
what the other donors are doing, building schools, youth hostels that have just been
created for the students. And what people can expect, it's a great event for networking,
meeting other people, and learning more about what Vidya Bharti does and how you can support it.
There'll be presentations and a video that will talk about what Vidya Bharti has accomplished
over the year, what work has been achieved, what they're doing for the students. In fact,
what I didn't mention that Vidya Bharti students have exceeded the exams in every state. There's a
high pass rate of the students for the board exams. They have done very well. And in fact,
the students, the alumni show that they've gone to be doctors, lawyers, engineers, government civil
servants. So all over, Vidya Bharti has the largest alumni database of over 100,000 students.
Mona, what would surprise a Boston audience about Vidya Bharti?
I think what would surprise them most is the scale Vidya Bharti has achieved, providing
low-cost education, providing so much value as well. Most people assume that good education
costs a lot of money, comes at a high cost. But Vidya Bharti has proved that with engaged
communities, involved teachers and parents, it can produce those outcomes at extremely low costs
that are unbelievable, that I don't think would be comparable to what it costs in the West.
So Mona, how can people help Vidya Bharti?
So people should, when they go back home to, back to India, they can visit a Vidya Bharti school.
I mean, Vidya Bharti has schools across all the districts in India. And so they can get in touch.
The school will organize, Vidya Bharti will organize the visit.
You can see firsthand what has been accomplished for the children.
So they can also support a child. All it costs is $500 to educate a child for one year
that provides the tuition, the fees, the clothes, everything the child needs for one year.
Similarly, they can adopt a classroom of 30 children, or they can adopt a school as well.
There are many ways one can contribute, you know, besides building a classroom,
and they can build a computer lab, they can build other kind of facilities in the facilities of the
school. So there are many ways that, you know, a person who wants to get involved can do that.
Thank you for talking to us about Vidya Bharti, Mona.
